Hey readers! This week, two of the biggest names in sensors and software decided to work together, and the twist is that the first product isn't for people living with diabetes at all. Let's unpack what the Abbott-Google deal actually promises, where AI-plus-glucose is showing real numbers, and a full slate of drug, device, and cell-therapy news worth your attention.
🤖 Glucose data meets AI coaching
Abbott, Google to combine glucose data with AI coaching - Abbott and Google announced a multiyear partnership to feed data from Abbott's over-the-counter Lingo glucose sensor into the Google Health app, where a premium AI health coach would turn glucose patterns into habit-building recommendations.
- MedTech Dive
A couple of things worth flagging for this audience. Lingo is Abbott's over-the-counter, consumer wellness sensor, not a therapeutic CGM, so this is aimed squarely at proactive metabolic health rather than insulin dosing. Abbott plans to roll out the Google Health integrations later in 2026.
The part I'd watch is the research. The companies plan a large real-world study combining continuous glucose, wearable, laboratory, and survey data to examine links among activity, sleep, well-being, and metabolic health, all of which will inform both the coaching and future Lingo features. Abbott did not disclose how many people they plan to enroll, so the ambition is clear but the scale is not yet.
The two companies plan to launch a large study that could inform Google's AI health coaching and future features for Abbott's Lingo sensor.
Why it matters: if AI coaching built on consumer glucose data proves useful, the design lessons tend to flow into medical-grade tools. The open question is whether pattern-spotting on habits translates into anything actionable for people who already track glucose closely.
🩺 AI moving from wellness into the clinic
UF, Google announce partnership to expand program studying diabetes treatments - The University of Florida and Google are expanding an AI-driven effort to diagnose and treat diabetes, including funding to educate primary care doctors and an AI component built to flag people at risk for type 1 diabetes.
- WUFT
This is the more clinically pointed Google collaboration, and the T1D angle is the interesting one. UF endocrinologist Dr. Michael Haller described scanning large patient datasets to surface those at highest risk.
"So, using artificial intelligence, we can scan large sets of data on patients to pick out the likeliest patients who have the highest risk for Type 1 diabetes based on other features: family history of Type 1 diabetes, glucoses that happen to be higher in their blood glucose records," Haller explained.
Haller said that if the program succeeds, the approach could eventually expand across the country. Paired with earlier-intervention therapies now reaching younger kids (more on that below), better risk detection is where a lot of the near-term value sits.
AI glucose prediction shows promise in diabetes care - A retrospective real-world study of 249 adults found that using an AI Night Low Predict feature at bedtime was linked to 20% lower odds of nocturnal hypoglycaemia on nights it was used, drawn from 8,158 CGM nights.
- Medical Republic
Here is AI-plus-CGM with actual numbers behind it, and the framing from the experts is refreshingly honest.
"For decades, glucose monitoring has helped answer the question: what is happening now? Predictive technology asks a different question: where is glucose likely to be heading next?"
A separate digital-twin simulation suggested predictive alerts could cut time below range by 2.9 percentage points, raise time in range by more than 3.6 points, and reduce daily low-glucose alarms by 67%. Important caveat: the researchers stress that observational and simulated findings answer different questions, and that prospective trials plus clinical judgement still matter. Predictive tech is support for earlier risk recognition, not a replacement for education or care.
💉 Devices and delivery
MiniMed's Smallest App-Controlled Insulin Pump Now Shipping with the World's Smallest Sensor - MiniMed announced its MiniMed Flex system is now shipping in the U.S. with Abbott's Instinct sensor, offering up to 15 days of wear and app control.
- PR Newswire
Interesting note for the Abbott thread: the Instinct sensor here is also made by Abbott, so Abbott's hardware is showing up across both consumer and therapeutic ecosystems. Flex uses SmartGuard to adjust insulin around the clock, with Meal Detection to help when a bolus is missed or carbs are underestimated. MiniMed cites real-world 780G data using the same algorithm at 80% Time in Range overall and more than 90% overnight for users on recommended settings.
"With MiniMed Flex, I can clip it and forget it, use the app when I need to interact with it, and go longer between sensor changes."
It's FDA cleared for people with type 1 diabetes ages 7 and older, and adults 18 and older with insulin-requiring type 2, and can be ordered with Instinct or Simplera Sync now.
UC San Diego CHARM Smart Ring Tracks Glucose Through Sweat - A research prototype ring estimates glucose from finger sweat, tracking meal-related swings but lagging blood readings by about 15 to 20 minutes; it is not commercially available, and the article reiterates that no ring or smartwatch is authorized to estimate blood glucose without piercing the skin. Keep using your FDA-authorized monitor for treatment decisions. - TechRepublic
🛡️ The cure-directed research pipeline
Genmodifierade celler ger nytt hopp om bot för typ 1-diabetes - Swedish researchers report that, for the first time, gene-modified insulin-producing cells survived and functioned in a person with type 1 diabetes without immunosuppressive drugs.
- LäkemedelsVärlden
This is the standout in the cell-therapy space. Using CRISPR-Cas12b to make donor cells effectively invisible to the immune system, a first-in-human study transplanted a small amount of cells into forearm muscle, and a 14-month follow-up showed safety with stable, glucose-responsive insulin production measured via C-peptide.
"Detta är ett bevis på att insulinproducerande celler kan transplanteras till patienter med typ 1-diabetes och fås att överleva utan samtidigt behov av immundämpande läkemedel," said Per-Ola Carlsson of Uppsala University.
The researchers are candid that the cell quantity so far is too small for a full treatment; next up is work with stem-cell-derived cells to reach "curing doses."
Cellular "invisibility cloaks" may enable side-effect-free diabetes treatment - Penn State's biomimetic hydrogel coating let transplanted islets restore healthy blood sugar in diabetic mice within about a week, with most staying diabetes-free for more than 100 days without continuous immunosuppression. Preclinical, in mice, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. - Bioengineer
Avaí Bio and Austrianova Announce Research Collaboration with San Raffaele Hospital - Their Insulinova venture will test whether Cell-in-a-Box encapsulation can keep stem-cell-derived beta cells alive and functional while shielding them from immune attack. One outlet notes this is research-stage, not a clinical milestone. - BioSpace
Genprex is scaling a diabetes therapy designed to deliver two genes to the pancreas - Genprex signed a manufacturing agreement to scale up its AAV gene therapy delivering Pdx1 and MafA to the pancreas, with preclinical mouse and NHP data relevant to both T1D and T2D. - StockTitan
🧬 Earlier intervention and risk prediction
FDA Expands Tzield Use to Young Children, Marking Shift in Type 1 Diabetes Care - The FDA expanded Tzield (teplizumab-mzwv) to children as young as 1 year old with Stage 2 type 1 diabetes, supported by the PETITE-T1D study in children under 8.
- The Educated Patient
The CD3-directed antibody is designed to slow the autoimmune attack and delay progression to symptomatic Stage 3 disease, given as a once-daily IV infusion over 14 consecutive days.
Delaying the onset of Stage 3 diabetes, even by a few years, can make a meaningful difference, particularly during early childhood.
Across the Atlantic, one outlet reports teplizumab is now available on the NHS in England and Wales, described by families as buying "an extra three years" before insulin. NICE estimates around 1,100 adults and children could be eligible in the first year.
Type 1 Diabetes Risk Identified Up to Five Years Before Onset with More Than 92% Predictive Power - OTraces' retrospective analysis of TEDDY data reported predictive power above 92% for 1-, 3-, and 5-year horizons. The company stresses this is research-use-only and not FDA-cleared for clinical prediction. - GlobeNewswire
💊 Drugs and access
First Once-Weekly Basal Insulin Now Available in the US - Novo Nordisk's once-weekly basal insulin icodec-abae (Awiqli) is now in U.S. pharmacies, approved in March 2026 for adults with type 2 diabetes based on the four ONWARDS phase 3 trials in 2,680 adults.
- Medscape
One important note for our T1D readers: Awiqli is not approved for type 1 diabetes or children in the U.S. An FDA advisory panel had voted against T1D use partly over hypoglycemia risk. Reporting elsewhere says it has reached 70,000 U.S. pharmacies, and experts caution that because the drug lingers a week, dosing errors take longer to correct and switching should be clinician-supervised.
Foundayo: The new weight loss pill approved for the UK - Eli Lilly's once-daily oral GLP-1 orforglipron was authorised in the UK for weight loss and type 2 diabetes, making the UK the first European country to green-light it for both, per MHRA authorisation on 10 August 2026. It won't yet be on the NHS. - The Independent
Amylyx Announces Positive Topline Results from Phase 3 LUCIDITY Trial of Avexitide - In 78 participants, avexitide cut the composite rate of Level 2 and 3 hypoglycemic events by 55% versus placebo (p=0.000003) for post-bariatric hypoglycemia; an NDA is planned by the end of 2026. - FinancialContent
Diabetes Australia Welcomes PBS Listing of Tresiba Penfill for Type 1 Diabetes - The ultra-long-acting basal insulin was listed on Australia's PBS effective July 2026 for adults and children aged one and above, improving affordability. - World Web Dynamics
🏃 Community corner
Breakthrough T1D Run 2026-2027 Season Launches - The 2026-2027 season includes 10 major endurance events worldwide, featuring all Abbott World Marathon Majors, running from the TCS Sydney Marathon on Aug. 30, 2026 through the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on May 23, 2027. - PR Newswire
Rising Temperatures Linked to Hypoglycemia in Type 1 Diabetes - A UK study in Diabetes Care using CGM data from 679 adults found hypoglycemia risk rose nonlinearly above 13°C, reaching odds of 1.26 at 25°C, strongest on the same day as heat exposure. Worth keeping in mind as you plan for warm days. - Medical Dialogues
That's the issue. The through-line this week: AI and glucose data keep getting closer, but the honest voices in the room, from the predictive-tech researchers to the FDA guidance on smart rings, keep pointing back to the same thing. Tools help you see where things are heading, but decisions still belong to you and your care team. Take care of yourselves out there.