Accessing Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Sensors in France and the US

A Comparative Case Study of Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre (FSL) System

Abstract

Blood sugar monitoring is at the heart of every type one diabetic’s treatment. Because patients need make 500,000 decisions over a lifetime on average, reliability on monitoring devices is vital. Thus, the development of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) systems came as a revolution, as patients need not prick their fingers anymore and now have access to previously unavailable blood sugar trends. This note uses Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre (FSL) as a CGM case study comparing the patenting strategies, regulatory and pricing obstacles this biotechnology company had to face to market its product in both France and the United States.