A man wearing Abbott's Lingo biosensor.
Courtesy of Abbott
Abbott Laboratories announced Thursday that its over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor, Lingo, is available in the U.S. starting at $49.
Lingo is part of a new class of easy-to-use biosensors that people can use to learn how their body responds to food, exercise, sleep and stress. These devices, called continuous glucose monitors, are small sensors that attach to the skin to measure glucose levels in real time. Glucose is a sugar molecule that comes from food and is the body's main source of energy.
Continuous glucose monitors have long served as tools for diabetes patients, but Lingo is not intended for diabetes management, but rather for adults who do not take insulin and want to “improve their overall health and well-being,” according to a statement.
Individual glucose levels fluctuate, but consistently high levels can lead to more serious health problems, including metabolic diseases, insulin resistance and heart disease, Abbott said. The company says Lingo can educate users about existing habits and help them learn to manage their glucose in a healthier way.
“That's really the goal, to not only see and understand what's going on inside your body, but to be able to improve that, to be able to develop these healthy habits that drive those changes,” Ben Fohner, director of Abbott's Lingo app, told CNBC in an interview.
Abbott already offers continuous glucose monitors for diabetes patients in the U.S., so the company is looking to enter a whole new market with Lingo. About 1 in 3 Americans have prediabetes, for example, but these patients typically don’t qualify for prescriptions or insurance coverage for the monitors.
Now, users can pay for the sensors out of pocket without a prescription. Users can buy one sensor online for $49, two sensors for $89 or six sensors for $249, Abbott said. Each sensor is worn on the upper arm for up to 14 days.
Olivier Ropars, vice president of Abbott’s Lingo division, said the company decided to offer three different pricing options so that curious consumers wouldn’t be intimidated by a lengthy commitment. A customer can choose to buy just one sensor to try out for a couple of weeks.
“We want to make it as accessible and affordable as possible,” Ropars told CNBC in an interview.
Abbott competitor Dexcom is also interested in the prediabetes market. The company launched its over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor aimed at this demographic in late August. Dexcom’s device is called Stelo and is available in the U.S. for $89 a month. Type 2 diabetes patients who don’t take insulin can also use it, the company said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Dexcom’s Stelo in March and in June gave the green light to two over-the-counter continuous glucose monitoring systems from Abbott. One of Abbott’s systems was Lingo and the second system, called Libre Rio, is intended for patients with type 2 diabetes who do not take insulin.
Although type 2 patients who don't take insulin could technically use Lingo, Ropars said Abbott's recommendation is to primarily use Libre Rio since it's designed specifically for them. The company declined to share when Libre Rio will be available.
The Lingo App
Abbott Lingo App.
Courtesy of Abbott
Like many other continuous glucose monitors, Lingo wirelessly transmits data to an app. When users open it, they see a real-time readout of their glucose data that updates every minute.
Those glucose readings are plotted on a graph, which includes a shaded area to indicate a “healthy range.” Fohner said Abbott’s clinical team defines this range as 140 milligrams per deciliter to 70 milligrams per deciliter.
One of Abbott's main goals is to help Lingo users learn about glucose spikes, which occur when the amount of sugar in the bloodstream increases rapidly and then decreases. Glucose spikes commonly occur after eating.
Glucose spikes can cause a user's glucose reading to exceed the healthy range, but they can also occur within the healthy range. Limiting spikes and improving overall glucose control can help users improve their sleep and mood, manage their weight and be proactive about their future health, Abbott said.
To help users conceptualize the impact of their spikes, Abbott created a metric called “Lingo Count.” It’s an algorithm that assigns a numerical value to each glucose spike and is supposed to represent how significant the impact is. Throughout each day, users have a Lingo Count goal they want to stay under.
Abbott Lingo App.
Courtesy of Abbott
Users can see this data represented in a second, more interactive glucose graph when they scroll down the Lingo home page. A number will appear in the shaded area below a peak, representing the Lingo count for that peak.
“It's unique to Lingo, but really that number is an indicator and a function of how high the spike was, how long it lasted, and what impact that spike had on your body,” Fohner said.
Users can analyze Lingo Count data and see how they are doing over time, as well as what time of day they tend to experience the most drastic spikes. They can also participate in challenges and access educational resources to learn how to reduce those spikes.
Ropars said metabolism doesn't change overnight and each person's body works differently. He said Lingo can serve as a window into how and why a user's glucose levels vary. But Lingo's real value, Ropars said, is the support it can offer users as they try to establish healthy habits.
“Many of our current products are geared toward helping people who are chronically ill and trying to recover,” he said. “This is the first time we've developed a product that helps people improve their daily lives and take control of their health before they get sick.”
