Memorandum
We noticed on LinkedIn yesterday that Dexcom has hired patient innovators Ben West (as a Staff Product Engineer) and Chris Hannemann (as Manager, Data Partnerships) – see LinkedIn here and here. Both Ben and Chris are well-known software developers in the diabetes online community, most recently as part of the DIY automated insulin delivery group, OpenAPS. Dexcom has not officially announced the news (we happened to see their pages updated on LinkedIn), though we see it as a strong reinforcement of the company’s vision to propel an ecosystem of software. From what we’ve seen, Dexcom recognizes it cannot and should not build ALL the apps to maximize its devices’ potential. The company has widely partnered with data management platforms (Glooko, Diasend, Tidepool, mySugr, Apple Health) and pump companies (Tandem, Animas, Insulet, Bigfoot) over the past few years, and we hope to see that continue going forward. We’re also glad to see people with diabetes like Ben and Chris going into industry and helping companies like Dexcom prioritize the most impactful R&D initiatives. We hope some of the learning from the OpenAPS community now makes it into products. We look forward to seeing what else the company launches – or propels – to make CGM data far more actionable and intuitive. The competition has certainly never been higher, with Medtronic (e.g., IBM Watson) and Abbott (e.g., mySugr) also making moves on this front.
- Dexcom has invested much more in data over the past year, including the launch of the web-based Clarity platform (a highlight in diaTribe’s G5 test drive) and the hiring of Annika Jimenez as SVP of Data. Data analytics are also one of Dexcom’s four key strategic investment initiatives for 2016, collectively totaling $40 million.
-- by Adam Brown and Kelly Close