But for one of these, CME Telemetrix, price and size are problems. Its market will be clinics, doctor's offices, nursing homes, and hospitals. When users place the hand-held meter over the patch, they can read their blood glucose levels. Patches will sell for 80 cents to a dollar each. I mean we have solved the extraction, protection, and measurement parts of the equation.
Some observers seem to agree.
SmithKline Beecham is studying TCPI's system. The only other company planning to offer a monitor priced competitively with conventional ones kept a low profile until October. At that time Bioject Medical Technologies announced in an SEC filing that it was working with Elan Corporation to develop a product to measure interstitial fluid. Bioject's monitor uses a patch that you wear all day, says CEO Jim O'Shea. The patch has a sensor that communicates to a wrist watch-type device that gives a continuous readout.