LifeScan Inc and ResMed Inc, Poway, Calif, have entered a co-marketing agreement to better focus on people with type 2 diabetes and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). The two companies will boost educational and cross-promotional efforts intended to benefit patients and health care professionals served by both companies. The goal is to build awareness among health care professionals about the overlap of these two conditions, trigger new approaches to patient care, and ultimately raise treatment rates for patients suffering from both SDB and diabetes.

The agreement between the two companies comes on the heels of a recent announcement by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in which the organization issued a consensus statement on type 2 diabetes and OSA. The new statement included a call to adopt new clinical practices with respect to monitoring, screening, and treating patients who present with either condition. “Through this agreement, it’s our hope to make significant inroads into educating more physicians about the coexistence, identification, and care of these two diseases, and getting more patients diagnosed, treated, and on the road to a healthier future,” said Tom West, president North America, LifeScan, which manufacturers the OneTouch® brand of blood glucose meters.

“Research shows that it is likely in people with type 2 diabetes that more than 50% suffer from some form of sleep disorder including sleep apnea,” said Paul Zimmet, MD, PhD, co-chair of the IDF working group that issued the consensus statement, and director of the International Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia. “At the same time, it is increasingly evident that a significant number of people diagnosed with sleep apnea may have diabetes, and they have a significantly greater risk of developing diabetes compared with those that don’t suffer from the sleep disorder.”