By: Tomas Ronolski - AllPennyStocks.com News

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Something has got to be done about the skyrocketing incidence rate of diabetes and the exorbitant costs associated with the disease. The International Diabetes Federation estimated 382 million people to have diabetes in 2013 and that number to surge to 592 million by 2035, roughly 10 percent of the global population. The American Diabetes Association estimated that the total costs of diagnosed diabetes climbed to $245 billion in the U.S. in 2012, a stunning 41-percent increase from $174 billion in 2007. Those are amazing figures for diabetes costs, especially considering that they only cover clinically diagnosed patients in U.S. According to the ADA research, medical expenditures for people with diabetes are 2.3 times higher than people without the disease, creating a drain on the patient’s pocketbook, employer resources and the nation’s healthcare system. The problem is not unique to the U.S. In the United Kingdom, some 3.2 million people are diagnosed with diabetes (UK population is about 64 million), with predictions for that number to rise to 5 million by 2025. The Daily Mail reported this week that one in seven people in UK hospital have diabetes, driving the National Health Services bill to 10 billion British pounds (US$16.96 billion) annually to treat the disease.

Just look at the prevalence of adult diabetes in some countries to understand how big the epidemic has grown (stats from the International Diabetes Federation website): China 98.4 million; India 65.1 million; U.S. 24.4 million; Brazil 11.9 million; Russian Federation 10.9 million; Mexico 8.7 million and Indonesia 8.6 million.

It’s pretty clear that diabetes is running rampant and medicine alone is not working, leaving diabetes patients at higher risk for deteriorating health conditions that can damage the eyes, nerves, feet, kidneys and heart. It’s at these advancing stages that the cost of diabetes heads off on a non-linear path, representing the largest portion of diabetes-related costs.

That’s not to say that medication, namely prescribed insulin, is not working. Insulin is recognized worldwide as an efficacious treatment for diabetes patients with high blood hemoglobin levels (often shortened to “A1c”). However, better management of diabetes from the onset can help keep some people off of insulin and better control complications for people in which insulin therapy is required. In fact, it is well documented that patient non-compliance to their doctor’s care plan of insulin and/or regular glucose monitoring has severe adverse effects on clinical outcomes, so a concerted effort to manage diabetes at any level is imperative to reduce the impact globally.

ALR Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB:ALRT), a Richmond, Virginia-based medical device company, is focused on commercializing Health-e-Connect, an Internet-based intensive glucose management system. Health-e-Connect is a web-based application that allows health care providers to work with patients to improve adherence to care plans and features what ALRT calls “Diabetes Care Facilitators,” or DCFs. The DCFs, who must meet specified criteria for the position, are responsible for remotely accessing data uploaded from patients’ glucose meters to a secure website to monitor compliance to a physician’s care plan. If patient’s are deviating from the plan or their blood glucose readings are outside of established protocol, the DCF alerts the proper parties to quickly remedy the situation, which could be as simple as a reminder to the patient to test their blood glucose or entail the patient’s physician making an adjustment to the care plan.

Health-e-Connect has received FDA marketing clearance and meets the compliance standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The system is supported by two separate clinical trials that have shown utilizing an intensive blood glucose management system to significantly improve A1c levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes treated with insulin.

This is, of course, only a synopsis of how the robust program works, but the crux of Health-e-Connect is that it is a succinct, yet an interestingly simple, system for interconnectivity, accountability and compliance to better manage diabetes.

On Wednesday, ALR Technologies said that it has stepped-up the offerings in the Health-e-Connect platform to now include an “Insulin Dose Adjustment Consultation” feature. Branded under the acronym “IDAC,” the new feature now gives prescribing physicians the option to receive an online second opinion on their recommended insulin dose from an independent consulting endocrinologist.

Insulin doses are adjusted for optimization on a regular basis in order to avert hyperglycemic conditions, which lend to microvascular complications and comorbidities, or hypoglycemic events, which can result in unconsciousness, coma and even death. Safe to say, with a growing diabetes patient population and shortfall of doctors, physicians face a tough challenge to maintain proper insulin dosing levels in patients, a problem that IDAC can help alleviate. With ALRT DCFs already monitoring the data and spotting trends in glucose fluctuations, the addition of IDAC dovetails nicely with the platform as another arrow in the quiver to help best manage diabetes in a bid to lower A1c levels and avoid costly complications.

"The clinical practice of diabetes would be improved through a system that ensures patients are more likely to be at their optimal dose of insulin. Intensive blood glucose management has been shown to be effective and some patients who are lucky enough to be treated by high-end endocrinologists have access to its benefits. We want to bring this high level of intensive treatment to primary care physicians and to a much broader population of patients," said Sidney Chan, chief executive at ALR Technologies, in a prepared statement today.

A truly compelling component of ALRT is that the company is essentially in a class by itself with its Health-e-Connect system. With the IDAC add-on, it stands head-and-shoulders above anything else in the industry as a truly viable technology to contain costs and improve diabetes outcomes. Pundits globally advocate that there needs to be more efficient healthcare spending on diabetes, with an emphasis often on compliance and education. The magnitude of the numbers is almost difficult to comprehend, sailing into the hundreds of billions of dollars annually, meaning that any impact to lower disease-related expenses could potentially save payers billions in relatively short order. From an investor standpoint, it equates to a much higher valuation than the $7.2 million market capitalization and 3 cent per share price tag that ALRT currently has today. News of commercialization of the new offerings could be just the catalyst the company and stock price needs to rise from these levels. Proper due diligence is, as always, encouraged.

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