The Future Is Now: Abbott’s Dr. Marc Taub On How Their Technological Innovations Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
…Surround yourself with people with good judgment, technical capability, and vision. But also make sure that they are people that you wouldn’t mind being locked in a room with all day…
As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marc Taub, PhD, Divisional Vice President of Technical Operations, Diabetes Care, Abbott.
Since joining Abbott in 2004, Marc has been one of the driving forces behind the development of the FreeStyle Libre system, a sensor-based glucose monitoring solution that’s transforming glucose monitoring for people living with diabetes. Throughout the product’s development, Marc led a diverse team of engineers and scientists across two global research and development sites and was involved in all aspects of the product design. He holds a number of patents for devices and systems for diabetes monitoring and is a published researcher whose work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed publications.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I like to tell people that I still work at my first job. I started at a company that was acquired by Abbott in 2003. In many ways, my career has taken a very linear path. Despite my linear path, the explosive growth in diabetes technology that has occurred over these last 20 years has not been. We’ve seen the development of amazing tools like continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), insulin pumps, and automated insulin delivery (AID) systems become standards of care for many people living with diabetes. These technologies have been shown to improve health outcomes and ease the burden of managing a chronic disease. And now we’re learning how similar biowearable technology can extend beyond people with diabetes and help even more people take control of their health and wellness.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I was incredibly fortunate to have been part of the team that developed Abbott’s first biowearable, the FreeStyle Navigator. We were a team of singularly-focused scientists and engineers, and from very early on in the program we knew that we were on to something special. However, it didn’t take long before we realized it wasn’t the right solution. It was too bulky, complicated, and we couldn’t manufacture it at a sufficient scale to be cost-effective, so it was unaffordable for most people.
We didn’t let that stop us though. We listened to the feedback from people with diabetes and went back to the drawing board. We took that same wired enzyme sensor chemistry and created a new product designed to be simple, effective and affordable. In the end, we created a product that revolutionized glucose monitoring — the FreeStyle Libre portfolio. In fact, when we first launched the FreeStyle Libre system in Europe, the demand for the product was so high that we sold out — in just 16 days! Today, the technology is used by more than 5 million people globally.
Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
With the explosive growth and success of our FreeStyle Libre CGMs, we wanted to expand the use and availability of this technology to a wider audience. Many people are always looking to know more about their health and receive personalized data; hence we’ve created a new area of wearables called biowearables. Biowearables are the next evolution of health technology, allowing us to better understand one of the most complex network systems — the human body. By monitoring biomarkers like glucose, biowearables can provide precise and continuous information about the way your body responds to changes including activity and diet.
Today, more than 5 million people living with diabetes use FreeStyle Libre systems to manage their glucose levels. It was the perfect device for Abbott to pioneer this new type of technology as FreeStyle Libre is the most used biowearable in the world.
But glucose is just one biomarker that biowearables can monitor. There are others, including ketones and lactate, that biowearables can be used to track. As we’ve seen with diabetes care, biowearables can help people manage their health and wellness by giving them real-time, precise, and personal data that they can use to take action.
Time and time again, we hear from people using Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre system that having the sensor technology reduces stress and worry. They have personalized data about their body right at their fingertips. It can be very empowering.
What exactly is this transformational technology?
A biowearable is comprised of a small disposable sensor — about the size of two stacked coins — that is painlessly applied to the upper arm by the person using it. The sensor sends data every minute to an app on the person’s phone. In the case of our latest FreeStyle Libre systems, it shows their real-time glucose levels and lets people with diabetes know how they are doing compared to their target glucose range. It also sends alerts when glucose levels are too high or too low, signaling a need for the individual to take action to manage their glucose level. Our consumer biowearable Lingo, which is only available in the UK right now, also measures glucose levels and it acts like a personalized metabolic coach. It teaches people about glucose spikes and how your body reacts to food, sleep and exercise.
How do you think this might change the world?
The future where the world has access to biowearables is incredible. They already help people manage disease and we’re starting to see them help everyday consumers better understand their health and wellness. And, if you think about their potential for the future, it’s even more exciting. Biowearables could one day translate a wide range of biometrics to offer an unprecedented understanding of the impact of diet, exercise, and lifestyle on our health and wellbeing. This technology could revolutionize how we think about healthcare.
When people have a clear understanding of their health and wellness, they are empowered to take control of their health. Today, we have to rely on a visit to a doctor’s office or the limited information of our wearable devices to tell us how we are doing. Biowearables will be useful in both medical applications and general consumer health, fitness or overall wellbeing. In the future, it is possible that a biowearable could be given to patients after surgery so they can recover at home versus having them remain in a hospital bed to monitor certain key biomarkers. For consumers, it can be a great source of comfort and confidence to understand how nutrition, sleep and exercise impact your body’s activity.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks of this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Biowearables are a valuable solution for people to access and monitor their personal health data. That said, this doesn’t replace anything that is absolutely core for maintaining good health and wellbeing such as exercise and sleep. As much as biowearables can improve your health and show personalized insights, they are not the end all be all for wellness management, but rather, they are a tool to provide insights that you can use to take action. It is also important that these devices be designed so that the data they provide isn’t abstract or overwhelming. They need to deliver valuable insights in a way that is clear, friendly, and empowering.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
At Abbott, we’re always looking for ways to help people live healthier, fuller lives. We always knew that the technology used in our FreeStyle Libre systems could be used for so much more. The continuous data biowearable technology provide is the difference between having a still photo or having a full streaming movie of what’s happening inside your body. This is tremendous advancement when trying to decode what triggers the body’s changes in key biomarkers. Was it what you ate, activity level, reaction to a medication or stress? Once we saw definitively how this technology was changing lives for people living with diabetes, we knew that biowearables could help even more people.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
Real-world data from some of the more than five million people that use FreeStyle Libre technology has shown that these devices help people with diabetes improve their glucose control, lower their HbA1Cs, decrease diabetes-related hospital admissions, and improve their quality of life. On the other side within the consumer space, Libre Sense technology has helped professional athletes understand their diet and fueling strategies to improve training and game-day performance. This offers a glimpse into the promise of monitoring glucose, and this is just beginning. The technology and results are there, we just need to further amplify and extend the message that this new product area is here and will be widely available for those who need it for both medical and consumer purposes.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We’re talking about biowearables wherever we can, starting with our current biowearables that measure glucose. We have a lot more education to do. Even in the diabetes space, only a little more than 1% of people with diabetes worldwide are using this technology today. And we’ve only just started to make this technology available to consumers — so there is a lot of work to do to help people understand what this technology can do for them.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’ve been fortunate to be part of fantastic teams and to work with really amazing leaders throughout my career. One of these leaders does stand out. Early in my career I had a manager who encouraged me to volunteer for a week at a diabetes camp. You have to understand that for many children with diabetes, they may not know any other kids with diabetes.
Diabetes camp offers them a place to be a kid and have those traditional summer camp experiences, but also to be around other kids with diabetes and to learn about how to manage their health — things like how to count carbohydrates and figure out how much insulin they need to cover a meal as well as maybe how to give themselves insulin injections for the first time.
I learned so much that week about the challenges and demands faced by people living with diabetes and their families, and it was an incredibly inspiring experience for me that shaped the entire course of my career and influenced the ways I think about developing products, putting the people who will use them at the center of every decision.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I’m part of a company that has a deep purpose and passion to help people live healthier lives — and to do so by making healthcare more accessible and affordable. It is our north star and drives everything from innovation to our marketing. We’re not making cool tech just because we can. My team and I are creating tech that makes it easier for people to get and stay healthy — it’s a responsibility that we take seriously and it’s exciting to be leading this revolution.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- Trust that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach and don’t run away from it — it will push you to stretch yourself to do things you didn’t know that you could do and to make sure that you address small issues before they grow into bigger ones.
- It’s ok to be a generalist, but make sure that you know more than anyone else about something.
- Surround yourself with people with good judgment, technical capability, and vision. But also make sure that they are people that you wouldn’t mind being locked in a room with all day.
- Being a leader doesn’t mean you have to be the loudest person in the room.
- Throughout much of your career you may look up and expect the people above you to have all the answers and to bring the changes that are needed. At some point you need to look up and say, “I am going to make those changes happen myself.”
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Great question. I would love to inspire a movement of understanding and empathy. Working at Abbott and our diabetes care business, I’ve learned a lot about the impact chronic diseases can have on people’s health and the importance of having access to the necessary solutions to help manage it.
I’ve talked about how health technology is there to enable and create greater access and understanding. But there are still many stigmas in the world that stand in the way for many people, whether it is medical related like a disease or general body differences like weight. As the age old saying goes, “information is power” and we hope in being able to decipher the codes, patterns, and language of the human body we can start to understand the “why.” This will not only help improve life for the individual but enable knowledge to be available for others to learn, understand and, hopefully, be more empathetic.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” — Steve Jobs
This really speaks to me about designing elegant solutions that seem so effortless and straightforward that in the end they almost seem obvious, as if their simplicity belies the disciplined decision making and rigorous engineering that went into their creation.
I see this in the development of FreeStyle Libre, where we spent years designing the product — every aspect from how the applicator feels in your hand, to how small the device is that is worn on the back of your arm, to how the chemistry and manufacturing processes work together to create the first factory-calibrated continuous glucose monitoring system and to do that at a price that could make it the first broadly accessible continuous glucose monitoring system.
Today’s “overnight success” took years to achieve.
Some very well-known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)
Connected “continuous” personal health is a game changer for helping people live life to the fullest. In the same way motion pictures changed entertainment from still photos to full storytelling format, we now have a way to see a fuller story about what is happening inside our bodies over an extended period. The real-time data from biowearables gives us access to a person’s health and wellness information that can improve diagnosis, self-care and management which, in turn, can lead to better outcomes and improved health.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
