Kakao Healthcare "Diabetes, Era of Precise Personalized Management"

Mobile Blood Glucose Management Service 'PASTA'
Personalized Blood Glucose Management Based on CGM
Integration with Dexcom G7 and i-SENS CareSens Air

Kakao Healthcare has unveiled 'PASTA,' a mobile blood glucose management service for diabetes care that it has been preparing for two years.

Hwang Hee, CEO of Kakao Healthcare, is speaking at a press conference held on the 1st at Kakao Agit in Pangyo, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province.
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

Hwang Hee, CEO of Kakao Healthcare, held a press conference on the 1st and said, "The most common diseases among Koreans are chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia," adding, "PASTA is a service that provides personalized management to precisely treat chronic diseases." The name 'PASTA' is an acronym derived from the first letters of the English words Personalized (P), Approachable (A), Supportive (S), Technology-driven (T), and Affordable (A).

The core of the PASTA service is the Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), a medical device essential for blood glucose measurement in diabetes patients. Before CGM, patients had to prick their fingertips several times a day to measure blood glucose, but CGM automatically measures blood glucose for two weeks when attached to the abdomen or arm. However, while CGM makes blood glucose measurement more convenient, management services utilizing this technology have been relatively underdeveloped.

Accordingly, Kakao Healthcare developed PASTA to enable effective CGM blood glucose management and created a service that improves the daily lives of diabetes patients based on this. When a CGM is attached and linked with the PASTA application (app), blood glucose data is automatically recorded in the PASTA app, allowing users to monitor real-time changes in blood glucose levels depending on what they eat. It also features a vision AI function that analyzes photos of food to provide information on calories and nutritional composition, making it easy to understand the relationship between food and blood glucose.

Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) 'Dexcom G7' connected or preparing to connect with Kakao Healthcare's 'Pasta' service, Novo Nordisk's insulin injection pen, and CGM 'CareSens Air' (from left)
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

Users can also record exercise, insulin, and medication, making it easy to track blood glucose information that fluctuates moment by moment according to lifestyle habits. CEO Hwang said, "It is common for blood glucose levels to rise after a work meeting even when nothing has been eaten all day," adding, "Besides diet, stress, exercise, and sleep collectively affect blood glucose levels, and PASTA allows users to check all these factors."

Kakao also introduced the 'PASTA Connect Pro' service to facilitate easy transmission of this information to medical professionals. Doctors can review recorded meals, exercise, and blood glucose trends in the PASTA service to use for education and treatment. The service also offers a community feature that enables real-time sharing of blood glucose information with family and friends to support health management.

Users of the latest CGM 'G7' from the global company Dexcom and the first domestically produced CGM 'CareSens Air' from i-SENS can use the PASTA service free of charge. In Korea, the latest Dexcom model G7, sold by Huons, was also launched on the same day. Regarding the revenue model, Kakao Healthcare explained, "We share the sales revenue of CGMs sold through our own mall with the manufacturers."

Checking real-time blood sugar levels on Kakao Healthcare's 'Pasta' service.
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

Kakao Healthcare plans to add a service linked with Novo Nordisk's insulin pen 'Malia Smart Cap' to PASTA by the first half of this year through collaboration with the multinational pharmaceutical company. Furthermore, they intend to expand PASTA's service scope beyond diabetes to related chronic diseases and to actively enter overseas markets starting with Japan this year.