Dexcom executives made two appearances online in the last two weeks to talk about the impending G7 release in the US. Chief Technology Officer, Jake Leach, showed up in a LoopandLearn YouTube video (28 June 2021) hosted by Joanne Milo.
Just this week (6 July 2021), Stacey Simms published an interview of Dexcom CEO, Kevin Sayer, on her Diabetes Connections podcast, also available on YouTube.
Some things that caught my attention from these two videos:
FDA pivotal trial completed and application submitted to the FDA.
It will come out first in Europe, later this year, and then in the US in 2022, although no date was specified.
Slated for 10-day wear but the company hopes to move to 15-day sensor life in the future.
It will be direct-to-watch “capable,” but this function doesn’t sound truly locked in yet. Kevin Sayer addresses this issue and was not clear on what “direct-to-watch capable” means from the discussion.
No calibrations required but can be made, if desired.
60% smaller than the G6 and includes both sensor and transmitter.
Smaller inserter than the G6 but still not reusable.
I’m hoping that the G7 will be compatible with my DIY Loop. Many speculate that it will. I’ll use up my surplus G6 as I accumulate some excess G7s before I actually start using them.
I think that Dexcom will likely carry both the G6 and G7 for some time. Will you upgrade when they become available?
OmniPod 5 will only support G6 in the beginning. This indicates that G6 will be available for a while. I don’t see any reason not to switch to G7 as long as DIY Loop is supported. I will stay on DIY Loop as long as possible. OmniPod 5’s lowest BG target of 110 mg/dL is not attractive.
Will depend on when Tandem X2 pump will be able to work with it. Will also use up G6 sensors first, while getting G7 buffer. Was wishing before year end since I have just maxed out insurance oop.
I’d like to move myself back into the ranks supported by a new pump with a warranty, but these kind of design decisions underwhelm me. I know these decisions can be defended as prudent and made for the safety of the population of most users. I just wish that they’d give more latitude to those who don’t need these “guard-rails.”
Like you, Helmut, I’ll probably be sticking with the DIY Loop as it lets me decide a BG target that suits me best. It’d be nice if a pump system could dynamically relax these “protections” when a user can demonstrate low variability and few hypos. I know, I’m dreaming!
I feel like I’m in a slice of the market that will never get the resources and attention of the diabetes device industry. Thank goodness for DIY Loop.
Since Tandem is one of Dexcom’s cooperating partners, it seems like this coordination would happen and permit a remote software upgrade to make this happen. Even better, maybe a software upgrade is not needed. We’ll find out soon enough.
Government overreach always enrages me. How is it OK for me to have a gun but not OK to control my BG target which would only hurt me?
Ronald Reagan: “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
Since I still don’t have insurance coverage for CGM, it entirely depends on if it can be restarted. If not, I’ll stick with the G6 until they stop making them. Hopefully by then Tandem will have synced up with a more affordable option.
That sounds like a good plan. When I moved from the G4 to G5, it didn’t work well for me. Since both systems used the same sensors, I just reverted back to the G4. I stayed on the G4s until a year ago when Dexcom shut down the G4 servers that I needed for DIY Loop. People had been on the G6 for a few years when I joined the crowd.
There’s nothing wrong with hanging back in this situation, especially if it makes it affordable for you. I suspect that the G7 is not much of a performance upgrade except for the smaller size. I don’t consider the G6 size too large. And even if they get the direct to watch thing sorted, I don’t see that as a big advantage. I don’t usually leave my phone behind when I leave the house.
I do think you’ll at least get a few more years run out of the G6. And maybe someone will figure out how to restart the G7!
@Terry4 Thanks for posting those videos. I just got to listen to them. From what Kevin Sayer said about the direct to watch connection makes me think that it might work on more than one brand smart watch. That would be good. I may have shelled out X number of dollars for this Apple Watch 6, but I would much rather go back to my Garmin or even buy a newer model Garmin watch. I find Garmin a bit more appropriate for my use.
Stupid me, I could not figure out how to use the Spike app since Apple decertified it.
Something I don’t like about the Dexcom apps is the inability to add glucometer readings when the sensor is warming up or if there was one of those annoying disconnects that take up to 3 hours to recover. With Clarity, I would like to be able to make notations about extenuating circumstances such as illness, medical procedures, etc…
Other than that, the smaller size and the built in transmitter are a plus for me. Going 15 days would be good. But it looks like those who stop and restart sensors will be up a creek, along with those who have learned how to change transmitter batteries. I’ll bet someone will come up with a work around.
Thanks for pointing out the 30-minute warm-up, Jim. I should have listed that one in my post. That is a substantial improvement, especially if it’s combined with steadier first day readings. I wonder if pre-soaking will still be needed.
To make up for DIY Loop’s loss of CGM data during the 2-hour G6 warm-up, I fingerstick several times and post to Apple Health. That enables Loop to do its magic reasonably well. The G7’s warmup being reduced to 30 minutes will improve performance and quality of life for me.
For me it will depend if accuracy the first 8-12 hours improves. For me those initial hours on G6 can be very inaccurate. If accuracy in those initial hours improve then the 30 minute warm up will be great!
I essentially never pre-soak. (I don’t think anyone is going to count the rare times I insert 5 or 10 minutes before using a sensor. )
But now that you mention it, I also wonder what will happen if you insert a G7 and then wait a noticeable period of time before activating it. I wonder if Dexcom has even thought to try to anticipate this type of usage.
One question that pops to mind is how the G7 will determine when it’s (initially) 10 day usage period has expired? Will pre-soaking possibly cause the G7 to expire sooner? I would not expect so, but since an inserted G7 includes the transmitter and not just the (dumb) sensor probe, I’m not sure how Dexcom will expect it to work.
I sure hope so. Sometimes these diabetes tech companies seem well informed on user experiences and sometimes they appear clueless. I really think they should highly encourage every decision-maker in the company from c-suite to engineering to marketing to wear a CGM 24/7, even if non-diabetic.
To date, Dexcom does not appear to use any actual sensor signal to both confirm insertion and start the session timer. It relies on the user reporting from within the app. If their habit follows suit, the G7 will start the 10-day clock when the user directs the app to “start sensor.”
You make a good point, however. This is the first Dexcom CGM that consolidates the sensor and transmitter into a single assembly. I suppose the transmitter could send a signal to the app about when it is inserted. Then the app could act on the timing of that event.
I haven’t heard this pre-soaking and session initiation topic specifically addressed in any of their company communications so far. Since this product will be introduced into Europe this fall, we can expect that info to come out in reviews before introduction into the US. I expect @Nerdabetic, located in the UK, to make some reports soon after the G7 is introduced in the market there.
At that point, it’s not like we could change anything but at least we would know what to expect.
Direct to watch will be useful for me. I’ll probably switch from G6 to G7 when that feature is enabled. However, if G7 sensors can not be restarted I might decide not to switch. Stretching sensor life with restarts and using transmitters for the extra 2-3 weeks after day 90 has saved me (and my insurance company) a lot of money over the years. It would be tough to be locked into the mandated expiration schedules.
Economics matter. If I did not enjoy the privilege of zero out-of-pocket expenses from Medicare and supplemental insurance coverage, I couldn’t afford current CGM prices.
If Dexcom constructs an absolute block to G7 restarts yet couples that with an overall price reduction, it could mitigate that reality. I’m doubtful of that outcome but extending wear-time to 15 days in a future version without an increase in price per unit could tip affordability in the users direction.
This article mentions Dexcom likely to have G7 lower to compete with Libre, which seems logical.
From article.
The results from Dexcom’s G7 device compare favorably to data on Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre 2 and on the company’s predecessor G6, leading analysts at SVB Leerink to hail the early evidence as “very encouraging.” However, Evercore ISI analysts warned Dexcom will need to compete with Abbott on price to crack the Type 2 diabetes market.
It would be good for us if Dexcom drops its price to better compete with Libre. That could take some of the sting out of the inability to restart for cash payers.
From what I’ve seen in the investor calls, lowering price isn’t a priority for Dexcom. Whenever the price question is raised, they come back that the average user only pays $60-somerhing per sensor, which puts them right on par with libre. They always dismiss the user cost concerns swiftly. The uninsured/under-insured just aren’t their target audience.
I see lots of talk about lower price in the PR-stuff, though. Maybe someone in the company is trying to drive prices down, but I’m seeing mixed messages there.
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