The maker of wrist-watch-like sugar monitor Diabetes Sentry is having trouble financing its next round of production, despite having up to 400 pending orders, the Star Tribune reports.
The product, which straps on the wrist and alerts users to dangerously low blood sugar levels, sold out last year, and since then maker Diabetes Sentry Products has been trying to raise $250,000 for replenishing the inventory.
The company looking for the right investor, though the weak economy has made the search tougher, says Michael Russin, vice president of sales and marketing, in a Star Tribune interview.
Designed for people with insulin-dependent diabetes, the Sentry gauges sugar by measuring perspiration and body temperature during sleep. It is marketed as a cheaper alternative to devices such as glucose monitoring systems, which sound alarms when sugar is trending up or down.
But would-be investors are likely wary of the product’s seeming outdated in short order, according to the Star Tribune. Bigger medical technology companies — including Abbott Labs, Dexcom and Medtronic – are in the market. Medtronic is known to be studying ways to relay its monitor’s readings to cell phones.
But while the Diabetes Sentry retails for $495, Medtronic estimates that its integrated system will cost about $1,500 at first, plus $1,000 annually in maintenance fees.
Diabetes Sentry’s cost and simplicity guarantee it will have its own market, Russin says.
Source: http://diabetesnewshound.com/type1/hot-selling-monitor/
Tags: Monitor, Production, Selling, Stalled