Milpitas, Calif., March 18, 2003 - A new blood glucose monitoring system that integrates a meter and a unique electronic logbook to help people with diabetes better understand the lifestyle and other factors that affect blood glucose levels was introduced today by LifeScan, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company. The electronic logbook built into the OneTouch® UltraSmart® Blood Glucose Monitoring System is designed to replace the traditional paper logbook, which is used to record blood glucose test results and other diabetes-related information. The new palm-sized system enables users to get an accurate blood glucose test result in 5 seconds and input key diabetes-related information with the touch of a couple of buttons. It also displays patterns in blood glucose results through a variety of automatic, simple charts and graphs that can help users make better self-care decisions and move from blood glucose measurement to more complete diabetes management.

Managing Blood Glucose Fluctuations Essential
For the 17 million Americans with diabetes, the key to preventing or minimizing serious complications such as blindness, kidney failure and amputation is to keep blood glucose levels in the near-normal range as much as possible.

"Blood glucose levels are constantly changing in response to daily living and such things as food, exercise, medication, and stress," explains Gillian Katz, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology) at New York University School of Medicine. "The key is to understand the impact of each of these factors on an individual's blood glucose level and then make adjustments accordingly, to try and keep their blood glucose in a healthy range."

Traditionally, this has required patients to test their blood glucose level frequently and enter the results, along with other key diabetes-related information (medication type and dosage, the type and amount of food consumed, activity level, etc.) into a logbook or diabetes "diary." Unfortunately, paper logbooks can be a burden to maintain and both physicians and patients may find it difficult to spot patterns or identify problem areas by looking at individual entries. In fact, in a recent handling study, OneTouch UltraSmart was considered to be easier to use than a paper logbook and preferred over current systems for making informed decisions about diabetes therapy.¹

OneTouch UltraSmart Helps Identify Patterns & Need For Treatment Changes
The OneTouch UltraSmart System can help users move from traditional blood glucose monitoring to more complete diabetes management by offering advantages in three key areas: blood glucose monitoring; the capture of key diabetes information; and the organization of this information into simple charts and graphs. These make it easy to see and understand how individual glucose results form patterns. Recognition of these patterns, and appropriate behavioral changes that address them, allow patients, and their healthcare professionals, to focus in on problem areas and can lead to more effective diabetes management.

"The OneTouch UltraSmart System may help make office visits more productive," continues Dr. Katz. "The charts and graphs will help identify patient behaviors that may be having a negative impact on the management of their blood glucose levels. Similarly, this information can guide doctors toward appropriate medication adjustments designed to provide optimum blood glucose control."

Fast, Less-Painful Testing - The OneTouch UltraSmart System incorporates the same, easy-to-use testing technology as the popular OneTouch® Ultra® Blood Glucose Meter and provides accurate test results in just 5 seconds. Requiring only a tiny blood sample (1 microliter), the system also provides the option of less painful arm testing², where there are fewer nerve endings compared to traditional fingertip testing.

If a test result is outside the user's specified range, the OneTouch UltraSmart asks the user to enter an explanation in the form of a "comment," which would then be selected from a menu offering choices related to exercise, mealtimes, and state of health. This provides valuable information when "out-of-range" results are examined for possible causes and remedies. In addition, the system asks "Do you need a snack?" if the result is low (20-70 mg/dL) and suggests "Check ketones" if the result is high (240-600 mg/dL).

SmartButtons™ Simplify Information Gathering - The OneTouch UltraSmart features four unique SmartButtons that allow easy input of information relating to four key areas: food, exercise, medication and overall health. Each SmartButton (easily identified by a pictorial icon, such as a fork and knife for food information) presents a menu and a series of choices for entering information, ranging-for example-from grams of carbohydrates or fats consumed at lunch via the food button, to recent blood pressure or cholesterol test results entered via the health button. Entries can be made at any time, and can be identified as connected to a specific blood glucose test result or as a stand-alone piece of information. The system will store more than 3,000 pieces of information, making it an ideal data warehouse for virtually all of a person's diabetes-related information.

FastFacts™ Make Patterns Easy To See and Understand - Pressing the FastFacts button provides quick access to a variety of on-screen charts and graphs that reveal various useful patterns in blood glucose test results. These include an overall average (up to 90 days) or an average calculated by a specific activity, such as the average glucose level before or after exercise or a specific meal. A person's personalized target blood glucose range (both before and after meals) is highlighted on the graphs, making it easy to identify "out of range" results and even to get more-detailed information on a specific result. Detailed information previously entered about any result is instantly available to provide additional insight.

"A tool like OneTouch UltraSmart is a major step forward in empowering people with diabetes to understand how their actions directly affect their blood glucose levels," said Dr. Katz. "It will help pinpoint problem areas in a person's diabetes management program so that he or she can focus on making positive changes to stay healthy."

The OneTouch UltraSmart is now available in pharmacies across the country and uses OneTouch® Ultra® Test Strips-the same test strip used by the OneTouch Ultra and InDuo® Systems. The expected retail price of the system is estimated to be approximately $99. A manufacturer's rebate and trade-in allowance of up to $50 is available, potentially lowering the consumer's cost to less than $50. The system and test strips are also covered by Medicare Part B and most insurance plans.

The OneTouch UltraSmart System is compatible with the soon to be released OneTouch™ Diabetes Management Software version 2.0, allowing stored data to be downloaded to a personal computer for additional analysis and printing of hard-copy reports.

LifeScan, a leading maker of blood glucose monitoring products, is dedicated to creating a world without limits for people with diabetes. More pharmacists and diabetes specialists recommend the company's OneTouch® Systems than any other brand. For information on diabetes care and LifeScan products and services, visit www.LifeScan.com or call LifeScan Customer Services, 24 hours a day, at 1 800 227-8862.

Note to Reporters: Please refer to the accompanying OneTouch UltraSmart Fact Sheet for more detailed information on the features of the meter/electronic logbook combo.

¹ LifeScan data on file.
² Users should read the OneTouch UltraSmart Owner's Booklet and talk to their healthcare professional before beginning to test on the arm.

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