London Dexcom advert

Has everybody seen the Dexcom advert campaign all over bus stops in London. Since when is T1D a common disease advertised on buses like Coca Cola?

I always knew it was a rare disease that hits about 1 in 200

Try 1 in ten in the USA

Not type 1
Dexcom is for type 1

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Where did you get that idea? The indication just states “diabetes”, with no specific mention of type. It’s the insurance companies who historically have tried to pigeon hole the treatment for Type 1s, and then more recently started including all diabetics using insulin (just as dangerous for T2s as it is for T1s), and now patient advocate groups are working to expand coverage to ALL diabetics.

Dexcom paid approx $5.5 million to advertise during the Super Bowl in the US, and paid a celebrity to star in them on top of that. (A move that upset so many of us struggling to afford this technology, because guess who’s footing that bill?!) Those bus banners are chump change in comparison. Obviously some paper-pusher in their c-suite thinks it’s worth the cost to advertise.

Those ads aren’t just directed at the nominal T1 population. CGM is the standard for all diabetics on insulin, including the much more numerous T2s using insulin. And many T2s not on insulin are also using CGM, though they generally opt for the less expensive Freestyle Libre. I’m sure Dexcom wants to stay in the forefront of their minds. I haven’t seen a price comparison of the new G7 over there, but supposedly it’s supposed to be a similar cost as the Libre… So more incentive to advertise to those people using other CGM systems.

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There has been a huge sea change in security pat downs I get while wearing a CGM or other diabetes gadgets, just in the past 3 years.

In previous 40 years I’d go through a TSA line or courthouse security line with my Meter or insulin preparing to explain what they are and to justify me holding onto these devices.

The past couple years I go through the full body scanner with a CGM on my belly and they don’t care about that at all.

I’m sure there’s still exceptions of folks getting hassled, but the lack of stigma surrounding carrying CGMs etc is likely in part due to pervasive advertising putting it all out there on display.

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The advert clearly says Type 1

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It is indicated for type1 but many doctors will prescribe for type 2 esp if on insulin.
There is also a market for people who are athletes who want to have an idea of their blood sugar.
The advertisements. You see are not really advertising the device.
They are put there as name recognition adverts.
They are known to increase peoples awareness and therefore willingness to invest in stock.
Let’s say for example in 6 months the NHS decides to clear this for all type 2, then you have a population of type2 asking for it, many who didn’t know about it before. And you have investors who see it as an untapped market.
The sports use is next. You will see very fit athletes in ads. But they won’t specifically state that, because right now it’s a medical device

This is copy/pasted from the Dexcom provider (doctors, prescribers, etc…) website:

The Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitoring System is an integrated continuous glucose monitoring system (iCGM). It is indicated for the management of diabetes in persons age 2 years and older.

There is no mention of Type at all, just “diabetes”. As in, all diabetes.

The European CE Caremark for the G7 (which I assume the adverts were for) carries the same exact generic “people with diabetes” verbage.

The Pro version of the G6, where the doctor has to download the data and the patient can’t see it in real time, is indicated for “patients with or without diabetes”. So that basically expands the possible audience to 100% of all people, not just diabetics.

And yeah, brand name recognition is everything. It’s not even just marketing towards sports people. They’re (not Dexcom specifically) targeting the opposite end of the spectrum, too. I see advertisements on social media all the time for companies using the Libre as a diet aid, using their own app to “interpret” the data. Basically claiming it shows which foods are making people fat based on the following BG spike. I’m sure Dexcom would be quite happy to reap the rewards of a similar scheme.

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Personally, I take exception to when they ran their ads in the US claiming “no more finger sticks”! I believe they passed FDA approval for that claim as well which just confounds me! Yes, a huge reduction in finger sticks but no more??? (errors, malfunctions, equipment failures, calibrations, etc.) With FDA approval of the same Medicare now will not pay for ANY test strips if you are using a CGM. Yes, I won’t need to pay for nearly as many test strips but it’s one more small expense (and we all know they add up!) for managing a chronic disease… (my .0001 cents)

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I am not surprised to hear this. While I am in the US, I have read that the G7 is approved and being rolled out in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Hong Kong as of October, 2022. I believe that Dexcom’s Kevin Sayer has described this as “their biggest roll out ever.”

As I understand it they are working hard to get FDA approvals (in the US, that is) for use of the G7 with a broader range of patients including folks with as few as one (basal) insulin injection per day OR a history of low BS events. I think that they are seeking that approval independent of “flavor” of diabetes. During COVID, I think that Dexcom got FDA emergency authorization to use their devices (of course that would have been G6) in hospital settings. I understand that they are working on getting full FDA approval for that use.

Certainly it is in the best business interests of Dexcom (and Abbott and Medtronic) to be able to sell CGM to a broader range of people other than the original T1s. How many of us that already use CGM. think that it would NOT be useful to a broader range of folks?

John

Always the more, the merrier. More companies see the growth opportunity and competition drives innovations and scaling cost reductions. It makes sense that all these products get launched in other countries first as certification is much simpler and faster in any country outside of the US which is why some of the best diabetic hardware never even makes it to the US.

Dexcom and Libre are now aiming for the type 2 market, which is huge. I believe Dexcoms are pretty popular for use among type 1’s in the US. I could be wrong but I seem to remember reading somewhere that it might be upwards of 50% of type 1’s in the US wear a Dexcom. Since the Libre has alarms now and instant reading it might gain more of that market share. But since there are so many more type 2’s, they both are avidly going after that market. Even if insurance doesn’t pay for a CGM, the cost of the LIbre really isn’t that bad so type 1’s and 2’s are more likely to self fund it.

But Europe and the UK have really only supplied Libre’s in their government medical system and in fact have made it pretty hard to even get a Libre as a type 1. In the UK kids were the ones most likely too. Just a couple of years ago UK was trying to supply 17% of type 1’s with a Libre. But it was really a pot shot by which area you resided in, A lot of type 1’s have been self funding Libre’s. Recently the UK announced they would supply all type 1’s with a CGM of their choice, availability still seems to be heavily reliant on what area you live in. The NHS can announce coverage, but the individual areas actually supply it. And some areas have more money than others. So they are working on it. Dexcom came out with the Dexcom One, it’s without some of the bells and whistles to be at a competitive cost and be supplied by the NHS. Dexcom has always been cheaper in the UK than the US anyways.

Population in the US is around 335,000,000. There are about 34 million type 2 diabetics (10%) with probably another 7 million not diagnosed. About 1.84 million type 1’s or about half a percent, which is 1 in every 200 in the US. But in the UK it’s about 1 in 170 or about 400,000 type 1’s and seems to be increasing percentage wise every year. I think Dexcom is focusing on trying to get people to ask for a Dexcom with the free coverage now as a type 1 and there are suddenly 400,000 possible clients. Hence the advertisements. And with a foot in the door, Europe awaits.

PS Not everyone is happy with the Dexcoms performance in the UK. I don’t know but I think Dexcom One is supposed to be the same quality performance wise, but many are used to a LIbre and like the Libre2 better.

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I don’t understand the nexus implied here between T1D and common diseases. Manufacturers advertise their products in various places, for various reasons. Sometimes to build brand awareness, sometimes to capture market share, sometimes to test unique marketing approaches and sometimes because they are enticed to do so by the available space, etc. Why do you care about where a manufacturer decides to spend or invest their advertising resources?

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I think her original issue was that they are referring to Type 1 as a common disease, but it’s actually a rare disease.
Makes no difference to me. But in the scheme of things it’s not.
Type 1 is less than 10 percent of all diabetics which means it’s fewer than 1 percent of the overall population. In the United States it’s 0.55% of the population. Although I’ve heard it stated to be as much as 3% in some Northern European populations

In the US, a rare disease is pretty much accepted to be any disease that affects 200,000 or fewer individuals as supported by a plethora of articles in the medical field. In Europe the numbers vary slightly but either way, Type 1 diabetes is beyond the generally accepted thresholds of being a rare disease.

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Interesting article was a good read, but it mixes all rare diseases together. Each individual disease is rare, but all of them together makes it sound less rare

There are many related articles but this one is interesting as it addresses variations between the definitions of what is considered a rare disease in both the US and in Europe. The salient point is that in the US, most all articles consider <200,000 as the tipping point for when a disease is considered rare. In Europe, the standards are similar but not always identical as they are more based on % of the population. I think diabetics, especially T1D in the US often consider their disease as rare because articles most always refer to T1D as rarer than T2D, which is of course true but does not meet the criteria for T1D to be considered a rare disease.

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Also Covid. After getting it, which was before vaccines were available, I went from a well-controlled MDI to needing a pump asap. In the waiting room, I ran into type 2’s who flipped to T1 after getting covid, and a couple of people who had never had diabetes, suddenly needing a pump.

@Judith3 Covid did set off a flurry of diabetics, type 1’s and type 2’s. The SARS virus did too years ago. A lot that developed diabetes from SARS did recover at a later date (not all). I believe they still consider it too soon to determine if Covid will be the same way. It makes sense because covid can affect pancreatic B cells.

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