Digostics and AgaMatrix Team Up to Improve Gestational Diabetes Screening for UK Women via the Introduction of Oral Glucose Tolerance Home Testing
OXFORD, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 10, 2024 / Digital clinical diagnostics and diabetes home testing provider Digostics Limited announced today a new commercial partnership with leading diabetes technology company, AgaMatrix Europe Limited, designed to accelerate the introduction of Digostics' home oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) service, GTT@home, for gestational diabetes (GDM) screening within the UK National Health Service (NHS).
GTT@home represents the world's first and only commercially available OGTT approved for home use. The partnership enables AgaMatrix to distribute GTT@home to the NHS on an exclusive basis. This news also follows the recent announcement of the significantly improved uptake in OGTT attributed to home testing experienced by University Hospital Southampton (UHS), and GTT@home's full inclusion in the Laboratory Diagnostics, Point of Care Testing and Pathology Managed Services framework operated by NHS Supply Chain.
Image: The GTT@home Test Kit includes the novel test device, a preformulated glucose drink, finger prickers, a test user guide and a prepaid envelope. It is packaged to fit safely in the recipient's home letterbox.
"The significant reductions in maternity services workload and improvements in test accessibility achieved by taking GDM screening directly to the expectant mother has generated huge domestic and international demand for GTT@home," said James Jackson, CEO and Founder of Digostics. "AgaMatrix is the perfect partner to help Digostics expedite GTT@home's UK introduction based on its existing relationships and customer base within NHS maternity services and their unparalleled domain expertise in GDM monitoring."
While the OGTT is the gold standard in GDM screening, delayed and missed tests are common based on the inconvenience for women and complexity for healthcare providers of the traditional clinic-based method of OGTT delivery. OGTT uptake is also unfortunately lowest with those patient groups most at-risk of developing the condition.
GTT@home removes the barriers associated with effective diabetes screening by enabling women to test for glucose intolerance outside of the clinic for the very first time. Home testing offers the same level of accuracy as clinic tests but without any of the staffing requirements, risks of sample degradation and laboratory delays that often impact clinic testing capacity, contribute to screening backlogs and cause false negative tests.
Image: With GTT@home, the user can send their test data directly to their antenatal care team with a simple scan of a snap-off fob attached to the test device using the NFC functionality within their smartphone.
"Our daily interaction with customers means we see up close just how difficult it is for maternity service departments to deliver timely GDM testing. We also know just how excited they are at the prospect of being able to improve their testing throughput by introducing home screening," said Alec Winton, Business Manager Europe, AgaMatrix Europe. "We could not be more excited to partner with Digostics and to add GTT@home to our growing portfolio of ways in which we can assist the NHS manage diabetes in pregnancy."
With GTT@home simplifying GDM testing and AgaMatrix' technologies assisting with the management of those diagnosed positive, the partnership also provides additional scope for a closer technical integration between their respective solutions.
"The complementary nature of Digostics' and AgaMatrix' services bridges a technical gap between GDM testing and post-diagnosis care," said Arif Govani, Chief Digital and Data Officer, Digostics. "However, we are not stopping there in our efforts to make things easier for diabetes midwifery professionals. We are already exploring ways in which we can make the testing and diabetes patient onboarding process even more seamless through full-service integration."
NHS Supply Chain's Laboratory Diagnostics, Point of Care Testing and Pathology Managed Services framework started on the 12th March 2024 and runs for four years. GTT@home's inclusion on this framework makes it easier for NHS hospitals looking to reduce their testing backlogs by drawing on the Digostics service. GTT@home is also regulatory approved for use within the European Union. Additionally, Digostics is currently launching international operations in the Middle East and Asia Pacific to meet the significant demand for oral glucose tolerance home testing in these regions.
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About Digostics
Far too many people across the world are living with undiagnosed diabetes.
UK-based Digostics' mission is to enable healthcare providers to identify everyone with diabetes, and those at risk of developing diabetes, by eliminating the common barriers that inhibit accurate and timely testing using the gold standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).
Digostics is proud to offer GTT@home - the world's first home OGTT offering and the most accessible and scalable way for clinical teams to realise their diabetes testing objectives.
To learn more, visit www.digostics.com
About AgaMatrix Europe Ltd
AgaMatrix Europe Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of AgaMatrix Inc. based in New Hampshire, USA. AgaMatrix Inc. was acquired by global in-vitro diagnostics company, i-SENS, in July 2023.
AgaMatrix designs, develops, manufactures, and supplies innovative diagnostic and data management technologies for diabetes care.
AgaMatrix Europe is a leading supplier of blood glucose monitoring and support services to Gestational Diabetes Clinics nationwide. The WaveSense JAZZ™ blood glucose test strip is the second most prescribed in the UK. It is used in the WaveSense JAZZ™ WIRELESS meter, which syncs automatically to the AgaMatrix Diabetes Manager app, and is a popular choice for HCPs to monitor Gestational Diabetes.
AgaMatrix has sold over 8 million blood glucose monitors and over 3 billion test strips since the Company's 2001 inception.
Media Contact(s)
Graeme Collins, Digostics
Mobile: +44 (0)7854 664168
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE: Digostics Limited