Roche Snags Diabetes App Firm for Digital Health Push
Basel, 30 June 2017
- mySugr will become an integral part of Roche’s new patient-centred digital health services in diabetes care
- Healthcare providers can continue to utilise existing Accu-Chek tools to make better and faster therapy decisions while improving communication with their patients
- The open platform for advanced data sharing capabilities and coaching services connects people with diabetes and their caregivers worldwide
Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and mySugr announced today that the two partners have signed an agreement under which Roche acquired all shares of mySugr GmbH. Counting more than one million users globally, mySugr is one of the leading mobile diabetes platforms in the market and will become an integral part of Roche’s new patient-centered digital health services platform in diabetes care. The acquisition allows Roche to expand its leading position in the area of diabetes management.
“We are excited about this agreement, as we will be able to offer seamlessly accessible patient solutions within an open platform to better respond to the unmet needs of people with diabetes. Our aim is to support people with diabetes to spend more time in their ideal glucose target range and improve their quality of life,” said Roland Diggelmann, CEO Roche Diagnostics. “Having partnered with mySugr since 2014, we see an excellent cultural fit, as both our companies are passionate about taking diabetes management to the next level and making a difference in managing diabetes.”
“We started mySugr to solve our everyday problems and simplify diabetes therapy through smartphones,” said Frank Westermann, CEO and Co-Founder of mySugr. “The mySugr team has filled a gap for over a million loyal users so far, and with Roche’s diabetes expertise and global network, mySugr will become an indispensable companion for hassle-free life.”
As a focal point for Roche`s integrated diabetes management strategy, mySugr is foreseen to remain a separate legal entity with an open platform for all diabetes devices and services. Users will continue to have the ability to automatically upload blood glucose data from their preferred device into the mySugr logbook app as well as the facilitated data sharing with healthcare professionals and caregivers.
About mySugr
Founded in 2012, mySugr specializes in all-around care for people with diabetes. Its apps and services beautifully combine diabetes coaching, therapy management, unlimited test-strips, automated data tracking, and seamless integration with a growing number of medical devices to ease the daily burden of living with diabetes. Early investors include business angel “Hansi” Hansmann, iSeed Ventures, and Roche Venture Fund. The company has offices in San Diego, California, and Vienna, Austria, with 47 employees across both locations. The mySugr App is available in 52 countries and 13 languages.
About Roche Diabetes Care
Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 40 years, the Accu-Chek brand has been dedicated to enabling people with diabetes to live life as normally and actively as possible as well as to empowering healthcare professionals to manage their patients’ condition in an optimal way. Today, the Accu-Chek portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products and impactful solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management, spanning from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The Accu-Chek brand encompasses blood glucose meters, insulin delivery systems, lancing devices, data management systems and education programs – leading to an improved medical outcome.
For more information, please visit www.accu-chek.com.
About Roche
Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives. The combined strengths of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics under one roof have made Roche the leader in personalised healthcare – a strategy that aims to fit the right treatment to each patient in the best way possible.
Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management.
Founded in 1896, Roche continues to search for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and make a sustainable contribution to society. The company also aims to improve patient access to medical innovations by working with all relevant stakeholders. Thirty medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer medicines. Roche has been recognised as the Group Leader in sustainability within the Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences Industry eight years in a row by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI).
The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2016 employed more than 94,000 people worldwide. In 2016, Roche invested CHF 9.9 billion in R&D and posted sales of CHF 50.6 billion. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.