Memorandum
On Tuesday, Roche announced the launch of the next-gen Accu-Chek Guide BGM system in Denmark, Switzerland, and Australia, with more countries to follow in early 2017. The BGM offers (i) a spill-resistant strip vial (easy to remove one at a time, less contamination); (ii) a new strip design (large sampling area, next-gen chemistry); (iii) Bluetooth compatibility with the Accu-Chek Connect smartphone app (Android and iOS, integrated bolus advisor); and (iv) on-board high-low pattern detection (key for staying competitive with LifeScan’s OneTouch Reveal). The release is on par with guidance from 4Q15, when we first heard about the BGM, which called for a 2016 EU launch. We haven’t heard any plans to bring the product to the US. The press release focuses on the new strip vial design, which sounds like a welcome dexterity win for many patients – it’s annoying to waste time grasping for razor thin strips, only to pull out a couple or spill the whole vial. We haven’t seen any pictures. According to a June JDST letter to the editor (Brazg et al.), the system’s accuracy exceeds ISO standards, with ≥95% of readings within +/- 10 mg/dl of lab values at blood glucose levels <100 mg/dl and within +/- 10% of lab values at blood glucose levels ≥100 mg/dl. Accu-Chek Guide has a new strip and proprietary enzyme that diminishes the effects of temperature, ambient humidity, hematocrit, and endogenous interfering molecules. We assume this meter will eventually connect into mySugr Logbook once it launches in Germany and Austria (where the mySugr-Roche integration is available).
-- by Brian Levine, Adam Brown, and Kelly Close