HDI reaches ‘inflection point’

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--Home Diagnostics Inc. (HDI) hopes two recent product launches, including TRUE2go, “the world's smallest blood glucose monitor,” will help it continue to gain ground. “Let's be clear: While HDI is growing fast, we have only 3% market share, so there's room for growth,” said Scott Verner, senior vice president of marketing. “This is a major inflection point for the company.” HDI has spent three years and more than $15 million to get the TRUE2go and the TRUEresult, a no-code blood glucose meter that requires only 0.5 micro liters of blood and delivers results in as few as 4 seconds, to market. The products, which received FDA 510(k) clearance over the summer, began shipping in September. With the thumbs up from the government, HDI has begun marketing TRUE2go and TRUEresult “aggressively” to Medicare, Medicaid and third-party payers, Verner said. “These products will have the same great coverage as the TRUEtrack, (the company's flagship blood glucose meter),” he said. “In the long run, they'll probably have better coverage, because of the potential savings for customers.” TRUE2go and TRUEresult, which both use TRUEtest test strips, have “aggressive price points,” Vernon said. The meters ring in at less than $20, he said. In pharmacies across the country, HDI's products, especially TRUE2go, will duke it out with brand-name products from the likes of Lifescan and Bayer. They, too, have “mini” meters on the market, but none the size of a quarter, Verner said. Additionally, because HDI co-brands its products to Walgreens, Rite Aid and others, it will enjoy prominent shelf placement and circular ad promotions, Verner said. HDI's launch of TRUE2go follows up on its Sidekick, a small blood glucose meter that's disposable. “Because of the way the Sidekick was classified, we weren't able to get broad coverage for it,” Verner said. “So we were already thinking along the lines of having a blood glucose meter that an active person would want to throw in their gym bag.”