Innovative New Concepts

Many products were presented that could reinvent healthcare and create new disruptive markets in our medtech space. Most of these technologies focused on information tracking and analysis, to kickstart a revolution in patient behavioral change.

iBGStar blood glucose meter from Sanofi. Photo courtesy of Sanofi.

For example, iBGStar is a blood glucose meter from French healthcare giant Sanofi that connects to an Apple iPhone or iPod. This product gives Sanofi a trifecta in the market for diabetes treatment with insulin (a commodity), the insulin pen market (highly competitive and higher profit) and now glucose monitors, a market estimated at $8.8 billion worldwide in 2008.² According to company leadership, the device’s performance goal is to provide innovative and stylish features and ease of use, and to enable independent diabetes management that fits the lives of diabetics. This product is in an adjacent space to Sanofi’s top selling Lantus and Apidra insulin products that also are available in the form of SoloSTAR injection pens.

Think it isn’t possible to strike an emotional connection with the patient? Think again.

The holy grail of medical device marketing is to attain an emotional connection with the clinician or patient. Band-Aid, a product by New Brunswick, N.J.-headquartered Johnson & Johnson, is achieving this goal with a formerly commoditized product. The company has reinvented the brand with Band-Aid Magic Vision, a free app for iPhones and iPads that is linked to Muppets Band-Aids. It takes a product from commodity to innovation. After the Magic Vision Band-Aid has been applied, children or parents can use an iPhone or iPad and, with the app, point the device at the bandage. When children look at the screen, a Muppet character appears to emerge from the bandage.³ After that experience, what child would settle for any other bandage product?

Band-Aid Magic Vision by Johnson & Johnson. Photo courtesy of Johnson & Johnson.