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ASCENSIA DIABETES CARE ANNOUNCES GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP WITH POCTECH TO DISTRIBUTE AND CO-DEVELOP CONTINUOUS GLUCOSE MONITORING SYSTEMS 

Basel, Switzerland 

Ascensia Diabetes Care today announced it has entered into a global alliance with Zhejiang POCTech, Co., Ltd (POCTech), a developer and manufacturer of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems.

As the second part of this alliance, Ascensia and POCTech have also entered into a joint development agreement to co-develop next-generation products that build on POCTech’s existing technology. This agreement will leverage expertise from both companies to build and manufacture exciting next-generation products with enhanced capabilities and features that are designed to more effectively meet the needs of people with diabetes.

“We are committed to expanding our business beyond blood glucose monitoring and we see continuous glucose monitoring as a critical component of diabetes care. This partnership will enable us to bring an approved CGM product to selected markets in 2019 and at the same time create novel CGM systems that build on POCTech’s existing technology to address some of the unmet needs of people with diabetes.” said Michael Kloss, CEO, Ascensia Diabetes Care.

Yanan Zhang, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Zhejiang POCTech, Co., Ltd, commented: “The collaboration between the two companies is an important milestone to the goal of reaching out to the worldwide market as well as creating our next generation CGM products. By combining Ascensia’s strength in global marketing, regulatory affairs, quality systems, and capabilities for designing and testing new systems, with POCTech’s expertise in sensor technology, we will together be able to provide the diabetes community with high quality and cost effective products.”

Michael added, “This agreement with POCTech is the key first step in building a world-class CGM franchise for Ascensia. We are aiming to use a combination of partnerships and our own in-house CGM development program to build a pipeline of state-of-the-art CGM products that improve on what is currently available for people with diabetes.”

Ascensia has a long heritage in diabetes care and this co-development agreement will leverage its in-house expertise and capabilities in developing and commercializing diabetes technologies. The partnership will also leverage the world class manufacturing expertise of sister company, PHC Corporation, who manufacture the CONTOUR portfolio of meters and sensors.

Ascensia’s extensive R&D experience in this area has led to the introduction of many user centered innovations in diabetes, such as No-Coding technology and Second Chance sampling. Ascensia is responsible for the development of the remarkably accurate CONTOUR NEXT test strip platform and hopes to apply their expertise in sensor development to the next generation of CGM systems through this collaboration.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

About Ascensia Diabetes Care

Ascensia Diabetes Care is a global specialist diabetes care company, dedicated to helping people living with diabetes. Our mission is to empower people living with diabetes through innovative solutions that simplify and improve their lives. We use our innovation and specialist expertise in diabetes to develop high quality solutions and tools that make a positive, daily difference for people with diabetes.

Home to the world renowned CONTOUR^® portfolio of blood glucose monitoring systems, our products combine advanced technology with user-friendly functionality that help people with diabetes to manage their condition. We are committed to continued research, innovation and development of new products and solutions. As a trusted partner in the diabetes community, we collaborate closely with healthcare professionals and other partners to ensure our products meet the highest standards of accuracy, precision and reliability, and that we conduct our business compliantly and with integrity.

Ascensia Diabetes Care was established in 2016 through the sale of Bayer Diabetes Care to Panasonic Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd. Ascensia Diabetes Care products are sold in more than 125 countries. Ascensia Diabetes Care has around 1,700 employees and operations in 31 countries.

For further information, please visit the Ascensia Diabetes Care website at: http://www.ascensia.com

Ascensia and Contour are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Ascensia Diabetes Care Holdings.

About Zhejiang POCTech Co

Zhejiang POCTech Co. Ltd., is a privately owned medical devices company with a seasoned R&D team of high level experience and expertise in the fundamentals of in vivo sensing products. Since its establishment in 2010 in Huzhou, China, the company’s focus has been on innovative and breakthrough medical biosensor technology.

POCTech’s CE marked product, CT-100B continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system, has started entering selected countries worldwide. With continued focus on the next generation CGM technology and manufacturability, the company aims at providing the diabetes community with highly competitive and reliable CGM products.

POCTech is led by Dr. Yanan Zhang as President and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr Zhang has over 30 years of experience in continuous glucose monitoring and was previously at Medical Research Group and Medtronic Minimed as Chief Sensor Scientist, where he played a key role in the development of sensors for the world’s first artificial pancreas in 1999 and Medtronic CGMS Gold in 2002.

For more information about Zhejiang POCTech Co. Ltd., please visit the POCTech website: http://www.poctechcorp.com/en/

For more information, please contact:
Joseph Delahunty
VP, Global Head of Communications, Ascensia Diabetes Care
joseph.delahunty@ascensia.com
+41-79-422-9286