Handok has signed an agreement with Medtronic Korea to market and distribute two of the latter's continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device –Guardian Connect and iPro 2 – to local medical institutions.

Kim Dong-woo (left), manager of Medtronic Korea's diabetes division and director of business development, and Kim Hyun-ik, vice president in charge of Handok's medical device and life science division, signed a business partnership contract at the latter’s headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, on Wednesday.

Guardian Connect and iPro 2 is a CGM system that measures glucose levels every five minutes through sensors attached to the skin.

Guardian Connect allows users to view real-time glucose levels through a smartphone application and can predict and warn hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia up to 60 minutes in advance. iPro 2 is CGM system for medical professionals, which provides retrospective reports to analyze the patient's blood sugar pattern, helping medical staff to give a more accurate diagnose and apply it to treatment.

Handok said it plans to expand the market for Guardian Connect and iPro 2 based on the know-how it has gained through marketing diabetes treatments such as Tenelia and Amaryl.

"Handok is a total diabetes solution company that has been in the domestic diabetes market for more than 40 years and has accumulated various success experiences," said Kim Hyun-ik, vice president of Handok's medical device and life science division.

As the CGM system is a business that combines the emerging digital healthcare trend, the company expects it will provide more sophisticated diagnosis and treatment options to patients through synergy with Handok's existing diabetes portfolio, he added.

Kim Dong-woo, manager of Medtronic Korea's diabetes division and director of business development, also said, "Medtronic has been supplying diabetes diagnosis and advanced treatment solutions such CGM system and insulin pump in Korea to meet the unmet medical needs of diabetic patients."

The company hopes that through the sales partnership with Handok, which is leading the domestic diabetes market, it can use the expertise and experience of both companies to demonstrate synergies in establishing a leading position in the Korean market with Guardian Connect and iPro2, he added.

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