Israeli startup DreaMed Diabetes has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for MODI, an app that analyzes glucose levels and insulin treatment data and provides people with type 2 diabetes personalized recommendations for adjusting their insulin dosage directly on their phones, without requiring a doctor’s approval for each recommendation.
About 85% of insulin users are treated with injections, amounting to more than 8 million people in the United States alone. Many do not reach recommended glucose levels, and months can pass before their next doctor’s visit and an adjustment of their insulin dosage to meet their needs.
While advanced insulin-dosing technologies have been developed mainly for people with type 1 diabetes who use pumps, options for patients who rely on injections have remained limited.
The prescription app, intended for adults with type 2 diabetes, analyzes glucose patterns and treatment data and provides personalized dosing recommendations directly to patients, including between clinic visits. It does so without requiring doctors to predefine the dosages or approve each recommendation individually, while also reducing the burden on medical teams.
The app was named after Modi, Mordechai Amir, who was 67 and from Kibbutz Kfar Aza and was killed on October 7. Amir worked in technology.
The connection between the Amir family and DreaMed was made through Next October, a memorial initiative founded by Izhar, Hila and Ophir Shay in memory of their son and brother Yaron, who was killed in battle while defending Kerem Shalom on October 7.
With the family’s consent, the company chose to commemorate Modi through the app, which was registered under that name with the FDA as well.
“Today we can continuously monitor glucose levels, but insulin treatment is still sometimes adjusted only once every few months,” said Eran Atlas, co-founder and CEO of DreaMed Diabetes.
“Information alone does not improve patients’ health; the value is created when it is turned into a personalized recommendation that arrives at the right time. MODI enables millions of people with type 2 diabetes to receive data-based guidance even between doctor visits and brings the benefits of advanced diabetes-treatment technologies to patients who use insulin injections as well.”
The team at DreaMed
DreaMed was founded in 2014 out of technology developed at the Institute for Endocrinology and Diabetes at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, part of Clalit Health Services.
Among the company’s founders who remain active are Professor Moshe Phillip, head of the diabetes institute and chairman of the company; Atlas, the CEO; Professor Revital Nimri, the chief medical officer; and Ido Muller, head of algorithms.
The company is based in Kfar Saba and employs 30 people, all of them in Israel.
Since its founding, DreaMed has raised a total of $35.5 million, including $12.5 million from investors and about $23 million in non-dilutive funding. Prominent investors include Medtronic, eHV, SIBF, OurCrowd and the 12.6 Fund.