Memorandum
Today Sanofi’s under-the-radar My Dose Coach app became available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Like the CE-Marked My Star Dose Coach meter, the My Dose Coach mobile app is configured by a healthcare provider (prescribed, how cool) and offers basal insulin titration based on manually entered fasting glucose levels and hypoglycemia. The app received FDA clearance in late March, and a helpful video and full user’s guide is now available at mydosecoach.com. We were able to download My Dose Coach, but it requires a healthcare provider verification code (sent via text message) to actually use. See the app screenshots below, which do a good job of making the treatment plan clear, highlighting the titration algorithm, and giving patients encouragement. The business model is unclear – we’re not sure if this will be free for patients and HCPs to use, or if Sanofi will build reimbursement/subscription around it. The app screenshots only show Toujeo, though presumably an HCP can select Lantus as the basal insulin. We expect to hear more about this at ADA later this week!
We see this launch as a major win for driving better patient outcomes on insulin, enabling more continuous and data-based titration, and freeing up HCPs’ time to focus on other tasks. In a competitive diabetes landscape, this is also an essential move for Sanofi following several quarters of declining diabetes portfolio revenues from US pricing pressures, falling sales of flagship Lantus (insulin glargine), and formulary exclusions (see our coverage of Sanofi’s 1Q17 update). From a competitive perspective, My Dose Coach launches ahead of Lilly’s prandial Humalog insulin titration app (which received clearance in January) and Novo Nordisk/Glooko’s efforts (who partnered in January to develop digital tools, including dose titration). As a reminder, Amalgam Rx launched last month with a similar prescribed basal insulin titration app, and Voluntis plans to launch this year in the US – see our competitive landscape here. The trend of diabetes pharma companies building apps/software and connected devices to enhance their drug offerings is clearly heating up, and we’ll be fascinated to see who best combines the right product driving strong outcomes in a compelling business model.
My Dose Coach Screenshots
-- by Abigail Dove, Brian Levine, Adam Brown, and Kelly Close