Abbott’s Tiny Freestyle Libre 3 Cleared in EU

Abbott has received CE Mark approval for the Freestyle Libre 3 continuous glucose monitor, meaning it can now be marketed in Europe. Abbott has substantially changed the design for the first time since the launch of the initial Freestyle Libre.

The company claims that the Libre 3 is the thinnest and smallest continuous glucose monitor in the world, at the size of two stacked U.S. pennies. Being so small, it’s a lot more discreet than its predecessors. However, the price of the sensor has not changed, and Abbott aims to keep it affordable to maximize the number of people who can access and use the technology.

“Since we launched the first disposable glucose sensor in 2014, we’ve always believed all people with diabetes should have access to high-quality, accurate and affordable diabetes technologies,” said Jared Watkin, senior vice president, Diabetes Care, Abbott, in a press release about this latest European approval. “That’s why Abbott disrupted the traditional notion that CGMs have to sacrifice quality or accuracy for affordability, and we built our FreeStyle Libre family of products to deliver unparalleled results at a lower cost than any other CGM available.”

The sensor is self-applied to the skin on the back of the upper arm. Users can set up alarms on their smartphone so that they can be alerted when glucose levels are out of range, and can take a look at their phone at any time for a real-time glucose reading, which is updated every minute. The self-applied sensor provides readings for up to 14 days, which is longer than many other CGMs on the market, which typically top out at 10 days.

“Abbott won’t stop innovating when there’s room to raise the bar. We’ve done that again with FreeStyle Libre 3, the smallest sensor that delivers life-changing benefits and best-in-class accuracy,” said Watkin. “People living with diabetes are at the center of our design process, and we made our next-generation technology even more discreet for a better user experience to make managing diabetes as easy and seamless as possible.”