A World Without Limits for People With Diabetes
Diabetes is a global epidemic that’s increasing at an alarming rate. “One of the biggest challenges people with diabetes face is keeping their blood glucose levels in range,” says Kenneth Moritsugu, M.D., Vice President, LifeScan, Inc. “Better control can lead to fewer long-term complications and ultimately can lower health care costs.”
That’s why the Diabetes Care franchise remains dedicated to creating a world without limits for people with diabetes, delivering innovative products and tools that are easy for health care providers to teach and give patients more helpful information.
In 2010, LifeScan began a global rollout of the OneTouch® Verio™ Blood Glucose Monitoring System. This accurate, easy-to-use system requires no coding and filters out many common interferences, reducing the chance for error. The system was
test-marketed in the Netherlands with patients on insulin therapy and launched in Australia and Europe. Other markets will follow in 2011.
Also in 2010, Animas Corporation, a leader in insulin pump systems, partnered with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to develop a first-generation partially automated glucose management system, a step toward the goal of revolutionizing treatment of type 1 diabetes.
New Strength for Stroke Treatment
About 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke each year, and as many as one-third die from it, according to the World Health Organization. Often, treatment or interventions to prevent stroke require physicians to use special devices to gain access to the brain. Two companies on which neuro-interventionalists rely for such devices have come together to create one of the broadest portfolios and one of the deepest pipelines in the neurovascular industry.
In September 2010, Johnson & Johnson acquired Micrus Endovascular Corporation, a global developer and manufacturer of minimally invasive devices for hemorrhagic (caused by bleeding) and ischemic (caused by a blockage) stroke.
“There are significant unmet needs in the treatment of neurovascular disease,” says P. Laxmin Laxminarain, Worldwide President, Codman & Shurtleff. Micrus Endovascular and Codman Neurovascular develop innovative and complementary products and technologies for treating cerebral aneurysms, which can lead to stroke. “Our hope is that by bringing these companies together,” says Laxminarain, “we can fuel rapid and meaningful innovation that further improves therapeutic options and access to care, and ultimately makes a difference in the treatment of this debilitating condition.”