STEPPING OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE: HERE'S WHY WE ARE TAKING A NEW APPROACH TO ECOSYSTEMS

The saying goes there’s an app for everything. They allow us to manage every facet of our everyday lives – I can track how many steps I have taken today, how many hours of sleep I’ve had, even how long I’ve spent on my phone switching between the various apps I use. For many people managing chronic illnesses like diabetes, apps and smart devices are also a vital tool for staying on top of their condition.

Novo Nordisk has been an innovator in diabetes care for almost a hundred years, and therefore I’m also excited that we are taking major strides to ensure people can get the most out of our new digital solutions, supporting our medicines. With a new range of smart tools that aim to ease the daily burden for people with diabetes on the horizon, we are taking the first steps in opening up our latest technology so that people have greater freedom to choose what works best for them.

By opening our latest technology for developers, we’re empowering people with the freedom of choice.  

Health data is most valuable for those who use it to live healthier lives 

People with conditions like diabetes now have access to the insights and tools to enable them to find the best way for them, as individuals, to manage their condition. That can mean “picking and choosing” from treatments, tools and even doctors. At Novo Nordisk, we understand this, and we also appreciate that new innovations must fit seamlessly into people's lives, working with the existing technology and routines that work for them. We know there isn't a “one size fits all” solution to technology that makes life more convenient.

Some of our competitors see our openness as a weakness. We see it as a strength.

It's with that philosophy that we’re developing new smart tools. Users will want these to fit into their lives, not the other way around. So as our smart pens become available, we want to make it is possible for a broad range of developers of apps, software systems and other devices (developed to help people with diabetes) to connect with them.

Progress is not always comfortable…

We're already working with many different shapes and sizes of developers, but if we want to make our smart solutions available to everyone who can benefit, we need to do more. When a big company like ours steps out of our comfort zone by working with smaller, more agile players, we believe we can reach new heights of innovation. 

We want to work with those who share our philosophy, who also want to give people with diabetes the freedom to create their own “disease management ecosystem”.

And we want to encourage them to do this in a safe and secure way. It’s an approach the medical technology industry adopted a long time ago but not one that has been adopted in the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, so far. For a company like ours, used to keeping control, opening our doors in this way is a little uncomfortable. But we believe it is the right thing to do, for people with diabetes, for doctors and for future innovation…

… and that goal makes it worthwhile

That's the approach we're taking with our smart pens. By tracking when and which insulin a person takes, how much insulin they take, and when they take it, they provide people with information about themselves that can help them lead healthier (and less worrisome) lives and make better decisions about their care. Combine this data with, for example, glucose data from continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), and people can gain insights into how their medication usage behaviour directly impacts their ability to control their condition.

Unlike those who think knowledge (or data) is no more than a valuable commodity to be “monetised”, we believe this information is most valuable when it is serving the people whose lives it can improve.

And those who are working to support them. That is why we are already working with more than 20 different companies with 20 vastly different offerings for people with diabetes, rather than making “exclusive” agreements that lock people into one system or one way of doing things.

And that’s why we are taking our first steps towards opening up our technology to even more developers. Because if we have learned anything over our more than 90 years of working to improve diabetes care, it’s that nobody has all the answers. 

We're better when we work together.

Let’s connect - Discover (novonordisk.com)

If you are interested in more on this topic, I also wrote on why "We don’t forget to pick our kids up at day care and 2 other learnings you need to know if you wish to get on the diabetes digital health train" and why I believe "connected smart insulin pens will radically improve conversations in diabetes care". I also also recently wrote about "How we took inspiration from President Obama's uniform in our commitment to improve the daily lives of people with diabetes"