The Holy Grail of diabetes management is, at the moment, considered to be an approved non-invasive continuous glucose monitor. While there appear to be quite a few startups and companies chasing this particular divine goal, it still seems likely that an actual mass-marketable product is many months, or even years, away. GraphWear is one of these innovative firms, and it is utilizing graphene and nanotechnology for its pain-free glucose measurement solution.

Back in October, GraphWear secured US$20.5 million from investors to help move forward with its non-invasive disease-monitoring platform. More recently (February 2022), the company revealed it had secured the services of Dana Cambra and Woody Scal, who joined GraphWear as Senior Vice President of Engineering and as an independent company board director, respectively.

Cambra worked at the medical device and diabetes management specialist company Dexcom and was involved in the creation of the Dexcom G6 CGM. Scal has previously been Fitbit’s Chief Business Officer and was part of the management team that turned the million-dollar company into a billion-dollar outfit. With such expertise coming in from both the diabetes management and wearable sectors, things look encouraging for the GraphWear non-invasive glucose monitor project.

The planned device uses a thin sheet of graphene to measure the amount of glucose molecules in interstitial fluid as opposed to measurement of glucose in blood. The GraphWear CGM comes in both a smartwatch-like form or attached to an adhesive pad that can be placed directly onto the abdomen. No potential unit cost or timeline have been offered yet, but there has been a clinical feasible study for the GraphWear monitor.

Concept images of the GraphWear CGM. (Image source: GraphWear)