Digital diabetes maven One Drop has brought on Sanofi’s former U.S. head of tech-enabled diabetes care to help guide its commercialization efforts as well as a new vice president to lead its work in behavior-centered design.
Rachel Yap Martens—whose portfolio at Sanofi also included the company’s legacy and biosimilar brands such as Lantus, Admelog and Apidra—will serve as One Drop’s senior VP of commercial strategy and consumer solutions.
Meanwhile, Gina Merchant, formerly a senior behavioral scientist with connected sleep and respiratory care company ResMed, joins One Drop as its new VP tasked with incorporating behavioral science tactics into the company’s core user experience, spanning multiple conditions.
Merchant’s mandate will also include evidence generation and the development of new digital interventions for chronic diseases, the company said.
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"Martens' and Merchant's respective expertise and perspectives will be critical as we continue to provide individuals with the tools and support they need to enable effective self-care outside the doctor's office," One Drop founder and CEO Jeff Dachis said in a statement.
"These additions to our team will enable One Drop to capitalize on what we predict to be a huge shift towards consumer-led healthcare in 2020,” added Dachis. The company currently offers personalized management and coaching programs for people with diabetes, prediabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, as well as any combinations of those conditions.
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In addition, last year One Drop launched an artificial-intelligence-powered predictive algorithm that forecasts blood sugar levels out to eight hours—while working with Fitbit activity trackers and Dexcom glucose monitoring systems, in addition to the company’s own glucose meter. The company said it plans to bring equivalent forecasting to people with other chronic conditions later this year.
And last September, Bayer signed up to license One Drop’s technology in areas outside of diabetes, alongside an investment into the company’s $40 million series B round. Those areas include oncology, heart disease and women’s health.