It takes two: After making its commercial debut early this year, Dexcom’s latest continuous glucose monitor is wrapping up 2023 by connecting with its first automated insulin pump partner, courtesy of Tandem Diabetes Care.
Dexcom’s G7 CGM will now be able to feed its real-time blood sugar readings to Tandem’s t:slim X2 pump as part of an artificial pancreas system, enabling automated insulin delivery and dosing calculations.
Current t:slim X2 users in the U.S. can access the system through a free software update, while new pumps will ship with the integration pre-installed.
According to Dexcom, compatible G7 monitors are now available through its network of medical equipment distributors, and the company plans to begin selling them within U.S. pharmacies around the start of the new year. The two also plan to open up the new connectivity to additional countries in early 2024.
“With this launch we are offering more than 300,000 current t:slim X2 users the ability to integrate with Dexcom’s most advanced CGM technology, demonstrating our commitment to continued leadership in advancing AID systems,” Tandem President and CEO John Sheridan said in a statement, celebrating the company’s 10-year partnership with Dexcom.
The t:slim X2 with its Control-IQ dosing software has previously been compatible with Dexcom’s G6 CGM; the G7, greenlit by the FDA one year ago, is designed to be 60% smaller, offer a shorter sensor warmup time and be easier for users to swap out after its 10-day lifespan.
Earlier this year, Tandem outlined plans for 2023 to not only integrate its pump with Dexcom’s G7, but also Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre CGMs—with the goal of making the t:slim X2 one of the first FDA-cleared automated insulin delivery systems able to connect with multiple glucose sensor brands.
Tandem said it would perform “internal walkabout testing” before connecting the systems, starting first in the U.S. before expanding internationally. The process has begun for Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre 2, with the Libre 3 set to quickly follow afterward.
Abbott’s CGM sensors obtained an FDA nod allowing them to be used in automated insulin delivery systems this past March, and the company has been working with Tandem as well as the connected pump maker Insulet with its Omnipod 5—in addition to the MyLife Loop system, developed in partnership with Ypsomed and the University of Cambridge spinout CamDiab, and being rolled out across Europe.