EASY TEST

New glucometer promises convenience for diabetes patients

Compliant diabetes patients make good pharmacy customers and are more apt to avoid disease-related complications. Since daily self-mutilation of the fingertips probably wouldn't be a pastime of choice for most of us, however, it should come as no surprise that diabetics point to daily fingersticks--along with having to carry around a monitor and packets of testing strips--as reasons for less-than-perfect compliance with their self-testing regimen.

While noninvasive self-testing is still some years off, Bayer Corp. claims that its new Glucometer Dex blood glucose-monitoring system will reduce the pain and inconvenience of self-testing, leading to higher compliance rates. As reported at a press conference at Bayer Diagnostics Division headquarters in Tarrytown, N.Y., there are indications that patients and health-care providers agree.

The key differences between the Dex system and other self-testing units are the amount of blood required (a comparably small 3 or 4 microliters, meaning a smaller puncture is necessary) and a test-sensor cartridge that is good for 10 tests. Oak Noell, Ph.D., v.p. of research and development, Urine Chemistry Business Unit for the Diagnostics Division, said those differences represent the start of a "convenience revolution" in the self-testing market.

According to data presented by the company, 67% of providers predicted that diabetes patients would test more often with the Dex system; 92% of patients said they would test more often with it. "Our target was a person who was actively interested in taking care of his or her disease, who was testing
reasonably frequently. Those patients needed extra features, and they needed convenience. What we were aiming at, from day one, was to make compliance something that was easier for the diabetic to do," Noell said.

The result--five years and $100
million later--is something that Noell admitted looks like a leftover phaser from the Starship Enterprise. Each Dex unit holds a disk with 10 testing strips, none of which the patient needs to actually handle. The strips extend from the unit and draw the necessary quantity of blood from the puncture site; 30 seconds later, the unit displays the patient's blood-glucose level. The strip can be discarded by simply pulling the slide back. The unit is then ready for the next test. When all 10 strips have been used, the patient inserts another self-contained, 10-strip cartridge.

The Dex system also offers PC-
compatible technology; patients and providers can purchase a Word '95-designed program that shapes data into a detailed overview of the test history. The Dex unit itself has a 100-test memory that can be accessed on its own small screen.

Colin Foster, v.p. of marketing and sales, Self-Test Business, said the wholesale cost of the Dex system will be approximately $58, with average retail price expected to be $70-$75. First shipments should be made in early February. Foster said he expects the product to be available at the retail level by early March.

By Discount Pharmacies

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