CLOSE Goes AP+: Creating Real Patient Value with an Artificial Pancreas

A wide range of diabetes related professions from very different disciplines from the CLOSE consortium and some selected external key opinion leaders joined forces in a two-day design-thinking event at IESE Business School in Barcelonaon July 10-11. The Going AP+ Value Concept Design workshop, a key milestone for improving Type 2 diabetes care, was designed to challenge participants to question, disrupt, and rethink the status quo of Type 2 diabetes treatment. A wide range of additional insights was gained that will guide the future work in the CLOSE project.

The two-day event started with a state-of-the-art session, drawing on findings from patient questionnaires, focus groups and interviews carried out by the CLOSE consortium. Expert insights were provided by the external diabetes key opinion leaders joining from the ClosedLoop4Meal consortium, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and currently developing an artificial pancreas for Type 1 diabetes patients. The insights and resulting discussions provided vital elements and stimulated creativity for the ideation workshop.

For the second day of the workshop, participants took the role of the innovator. Building on the patient needs assessment, they jointly brainstormed potential solutions and distilled these ideas into critical points to address. Albeit a real challenge, participants enjoyed the exercise and developed a set of interesting ideas to realise the full potential of the AP for patients and other key stakeholders in the care process.

The workshop’s findings will be fed directly into CLOSE Business Validation and Market Analyses. Fresh ideas were generated– important in rethinking the care process, aligning the consortium on the issues that matter most for patients – in the development of a viable Business concept for the AP+. The next stop for the CLOSE consortium will be a joint meeting at the conference of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Lisbon, September 11, 2017.

CLOSE assembles a multinational team of leading experts from nine academic institutions and private partners from the health care industry. As a project partner, EURICE took part in the workshop as well and generally supports the CLOSE consortium in all aspects related to project management and exploitation, IP management and communication.

The CLOSE EIT Health Innovation Project receives funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). This European body receives support from the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.