Dive Brief:
- Sanofi has released a new gaming app, Mission T1D, for Android and iOS platforms.
- The game aims to teach children with type 1 diabetes how to control and live with the disease in a school setting.
- Players must proceed through the game's levels by earning points, and at the end of each level, a "sensei" character pops up to teach the player a lesson about living with diabetes while attending school. The game's ultimate aim is to make the player a "Grand Master" of diabetes.
Dive Insight:
Small and large companies alike are continuing to enter the arena of mobile gaming apps as a way to help patients control chronic conditions and improve their lifestyles. Sanofi had already released another diabetes gaming app, Monster Manor, that serves as a complement to its blockbuster diabetes medication Lantus by teaching players how to monitor their blood sugar levels.
"As a company, we have entered the diabetes gaming arena to improve health outcomes for children with type 1 diabetes," said Rebecca Reeve, head of professional relations at Sanofi Diabetes, in a statement. "We hope that the teachers, parents and carers for whom this game was developed will make it their mission to make this game a success."
Noncompliance with drug regimens is estimated to cost upwards of $300 billion per year in wasteful healthcare spending. Drug makers hope that novel apps like Mission T1D will help make a dent in that figure by encouraging care maintenance.