Medtronic Launches MiniMed 630G, Expands In Diabetic Care

Medical device major Medtronic plc’s (NYSE:MDT) MiniMed 630G system with SmartGuard technology – a new insulin pump that facilitates diabetes care – recently won the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval for its commercial launch in the U.S. This system will be useful particularly on people aged sixteen years or more.

The MiniMed 630G basically combines SmartGuard technology which is already featured in the MiniMed 530G system with a brand new user-friendly design. We note that, the SmartGuard technology acts against low blood sugar and is the only system at present to reduce the frequency of night-time low episodes by one third.

We believe this system will receive huge market acceptance taking into consideration the fact that up to 75% of severe hypoglycemia occurs during night time while patients are asleep.

MiniMed 630G has a user-friendly design which enables personalized diabetes management and also provides advanced clinical performance. Apart from that, this system, unlike the other members of the MiniMed family uses the Contournext Link 2.4, the blood glucose meter of Ascensia Diabetes Care which claims to provide accurate blood glucose test results.

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We note that, with rapidly rising incidents of diabetes across the U.S., healthcare organizations are now focused on innovating technologies that will effectively help the nation's 29.1 million diabetics manage their health conditions. Remarkably, diabetes has been growing at an exponential rate lately with the global diabetic population expected to reach 552 million by 2030 from 366 million in 2011. With such a scenario looming, disease management and providing optimal therapy has become a major challenge for healthcare providers.

Medtronic is leaving no stone unturned to consolidate its position as a leading holistic diabetes management company in the U.S. In this regard, we should refer to the company’s investment to buy Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Life, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, to jointly develop future generation continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems that aspire to improve health outcomes for people with diabetes.

Other major medical device companies that are prominent players in the diabetic space are Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) , DexCom, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) among others.