Irish medtech company Innovation Zed has developed a new accessory for insulin pens designed to make insulin management more flexible for people with diabetes.

The company, which has its research and development facility at NovaUCD, has developed a range of intelligent add-ons for insulin pens under its InsulCheck platform.

The latest addition, InsulCheck Connect, collects and records insulin pen usage and behaviour data “on the go”.

The company said it would enable new therapies to improve diabetes management, ultimately generating better health outcomes for patients.

"This platform will result in a considerable step up in the performance and effectiveness for the 100-plus million existing insulin pen-users, enabling functions similar to pump technologies but at a significantly lower cost," said chief executive John Hughes.

The company is working with global pharmaceutical companies and diabetes management software providers on ways to use the data in their products and services.

"Our research with the insulin pen-user population, which represents well over 70 per cent of insulin administration today, shows that compliance is significantly below what is prescribed," said Innovation Zed's technical director William Cirillo. "What was lacking previously was the automatic collection of evidenced behaviour data to enable precise management of the condition."