Global healthcare company Abbott is expecting to bring more new products to China and comprehensive caring solutions through its diabetes care division for China's increasing diabetes patients.
Abbott Diabetes Care is a part of the healthcare company's medical device businesses. Abbott has had a presence in China for nearly two decades, and provides consumers with a diverse range of diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic pharmaceuticals. Abbott's diabetes care division has been aiming at improving patients' testing experience and help reduce diabetes complications for more than a decade since it entered China.
Currently, Abbott Diabetes Care offers a broad range of glucose monitoring systems, and both of its key brands, "Freestyle Freedom" and "Optium Xceed" blood glucose monitoring systems, are available in China.
"I'd love to see products in China before the United States and we're seeing China as a top priority so we're putting top talent here," said Heather Mason, senior vice president of Abbott Diabetes Care. Bringing in the next generation of both blood glucose testing and sensing products to China is the company's high priority, she said.
Mason told an interview with Shanghai Daily last week that a series of new launches will begin in early August this year and will extend over the next a couple of years.
China has more than 92.4 million adults suffering from diabetes, more than anywhere else in the world, according to the International Diabetes Federation, and the number is estimated to be close to half a billion by 2030.
"One of the advantages is the understanding of and the deep insight into the Chinese diabetes patients. We have taken that insight and translated it into not only the products themselves, but also the way we're bringing in these products," Mason said. "Our key strategy in China is to improve the health of patients and bring them the comprehensive system," Mason concluded, adding that there's still huge room to increase patients' understanding and raising their awareness of monitoring blood sugar in order to change their habits and help physicians prescribe appropriate medicines for them, she said.
Abbott has been spending extensive time to understand patients, and is designing products that are specifically for the Chinese market, and one of its top priorities is to design tailor-made products for Chinese patients.
Mason said the company is also confident to successfully undergo the domestic regulatory process as it has a clear roadmap and vision of regulatory steps to launch new products, with the help of internal talent and rich external resources.
Last year, Abbott launched a "Caring Life" program, sponsored by the Chinese Diabetes Society and jointly supported by Novo Nordisk, to donate blood sugar meters and blood sugar/blood ketone testing strips to 100 Type-1 diabetic patients to improve their lives.
