Dive Brief:
- Dexcom plans to launch a new continuous glucose monitor this summer for people with Type 2 diabetes who don’t take insulin.
- The device, called Stelo, was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for review in the fourth quarter of 2023.
- Dexcom CEO Kevin Sayer said Monday at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that the company will start with cash pay for Stelo and will “eventually seek reimbursement.”
Dive Insight:
Dexcom has been talking for months about plans to make a CGM for people who don’t take insulin. At the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, company executives shared more details as well as financial forecasts for the new year.
Sayer said Dexcom’s new Stelo device will be based on its G7 CGM. The sensor will last for 15 days and will have custom software features tailored to people who don’t take insulin.
“They don't need the alerts and the alarms and all the activity that we offer with the G7 series,” he said.
To start, Dexcom will offer it as a cash-pay product. Sayer didn’t name a specific amount but said the company would “be competitive” when asked about a competitor’s cash price of $800 to $900 per year.
Ultimately, he hopes to gain insurance coverage for the device, but it’s not clear how the price will compare to traditional CGMs.
“For somebody on intensive insulin therapy, this is life and death. For these individuals, it is health,” he said. “So we're not sure where that price model works out over time.”
Sayer said Dexcom has demonstrated with United Healthcare and Intermountain Health that its CGM can save $400 to $500 per month in this patient group, but they need to gather more data.
“What we want to do is get this product out there, get it on people and then start discovering what outcomes that we can,” Sayer said.
Dexcom is unveiling Stelo as competitor Abbott has launched a direct-to-consumer program using a CGM for people without diabetes. The program, called Lingo, is currently available in the U.K., but Abbott has said it planned to file in the U.S. by the end of 2023.
Dexcom also shared preliminary earnings results and financial forecasts for 2024. The company said fourth-quarter 2023 revenue grew year over year by 26% to $1.03 billion. For the full year, the company expects revenue of $3.62 billion, a 24% increase.
Looking to 2024, Dexcom expects a revenue range of $4.15 billion to $4.35 billion, for an organic growth rate of 16% to 21% year over year. It also expects an adjusted gross profit margin range of 63% to 64%.
That forecast assumes Dexcom will have another year of record new patients, Sayer said.
