Timesulin, a new product for use in managing insulin-dependent diabetes was debuted at the 16th annual meeting of the Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes, or FEND, in Lisbon, Spain. The product uses a timer to remind diabetics when it’s time for another insulin injection. It features a “smart cap,” the first major improvement in insulin pens since they became available about twenty years ago. The product eases the fears of both diabetics and their health care professionals by significantly reducing the possibility of double doses and missed doses of insulin.
Timesulin has already made waves in the medical field in Europe; well-known figures in the diabetes community such as Dr Åke Sjöholm, who heads the the Diabetes Research Unit at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, have commented on the product. “Due to the habitual nature of insulin administration patients often forget whether or not they had injected their insulin dose. We regard this as a major challenge in managing diabetes and welcome the timely arrival of an innovative solution like Timesulin,” said Dr. Sjöholm.
Timesulin was created by a group of three entrepreneurs who saw a need for a safe, simple product that could be used daily to help diabetics with insulin dosing. One of the co-founders, John Sjölund, is himself a Type 1 diabetic. Speaking about the birth of Timesulin, Sjölund said: “The idea was born out of my own frustration as a Type 1 diabetic of over 25 years. I manage my insulin injections with insulin pens and know all too well that a missed shot leads to raised blood sugar levels and causes drowsiness and body aches. At the same time, an accidental double dose has the opposite effect: blood sugar levels plummet, bringing on sweats and it can even cause a severe long & short term health complications. But mostly, it causes daily anxiety. I hate that. People with diabetes need a simpler way of knowing if they took their insulin, and when.”
“This is a very common problem: most insulin-dependent patients have at some point missed a dose or taken a double dose, specifically because they weren’t sure when they took their last shot,” said John Grumitt, Vice Chair of the Diabetes UK Board of Trustees. A simple solution, like the one Timesulin offers, should ease the daily anxiety for many people living with diabetes.”
Andreas Sjölund, another co-founder of Timesulin, is no stranger to finding markets with specific needs and developing products to meet them. He was the co-creator and product manager of Skype, a product which revolutionized Internet telephony by offering a simple and effective platform for voice communication over an Internet connection; Skype is now used by over 700 million people around the world. Marcel Botha is the other co-founder of Timesulin and is also the CTO for the start-up. Originally working with the MIT Media Lab in Boston, Botha has also worked on Sniftag, an online networking tool for dogs.
Timesulin is compatible with all major insulin pens and does not require any changes in the utility of the pen. It requires no configuration and is ready to use as soon as it’s out of the packaging. It will be priced at £25 for each pack of two replacement caps, and will see distribution throughout the EU starting in mid-November 2011.
