What's the difference between a biosensor and CGM?

Libre Life explains that the 2 terms are not the same despite being used interchangeably.

Over the last few months lots of new entrants have entered the market to monitor glucose, but do you know:

"What's the difference between a biosensor and CGM?"

The terms seem to be being used interchangeably but are they the same? As you probably know if you have diabetes, CGM stands for continuous glucose monitor and the most familiar brands are FreeStyle Libre and Dexcom. They were originally designed for diabetes management and in the UK are used (through the NHS) by the vast majority of type 1s to help manage their condition.

But, there are many more now companies now marketing CGMs and not just aimed at those with diabetes - there are those targeting health, wellness, nutrition and sports, and more recently pre-diabetes.

Dexcom's newest product, Stelo, is being marketed to persons with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes as a biosensor. The company explain that as these are available over-the-counter ie. without a prescription, then they are not CGMs in the sense that a CGM requires a prescription.

Although based on CGM technology - the Stelo uses the hardware of a G7 CGM -, it is important to differentiate, especially as the market expands and becomes more crowded with many companies competing for the health and fitness market - incidentally, much larger than the audience for medtech.

The distinction is particularly important where the user is paying for the product directly themselves ie without insurance as this keeps the cost down.

So, in essence all companies using a sensor as part of their programme that is not aimed at those with diabetes and using the tech for management decision making, should refer to them as biosensors.

Companies currently offering programmes using biosensors include:

 Lingo (by Abbott), Stelo(by Dexcom), Nutrisense, Zoe, Levels, Veri, Signos January.ai, Vively and Superhuman. 

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