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Shares of glucose-monitoring company DexCom jumped nearly 10 per cent on Tuesday afternoon after US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr lauded medical “wearables” and said he would like all Americans to be using the technology within four years.
Kennedy said in congressional testimony that the health and human services department would launch a big advertising campaign to encourage Americans to use wearables — medical devices that track blood sugar, heart rate, sleep and other vital signs.
“We think that wearables are a key to the Maha agenda,” Kennedy said, referring to his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign. “My vision is that every American is wearing a wearable within four years.”
Kennedy’s comments come amid booming interest in wearables and fitness trackers among consumers and investors. The Food Drug Administration last year made its first approvals of certain continuous glucose monitors, including those sold by DexCom, for individuals without a prescription. Shares in Abbott Laboratories, which also makes CGMs, rose almost 4 per cent following Kennedy’s comments.
“Ozempic is costing $1,300 a month,” Kennedy said on Tuesday, referring to the weight-loss drug made by Novo Nordisk. “If you can achieve the same thing with an $80 wearable it is a lot better for the American people.”
Members of the Trump administration have ties to wearables businesses. President Donald Trump’s pick to be US surgeon general, Casey Means, co-founded health-monitoring company Levels Health, which has partnered with DexCom for glucose tracking. New York-based Levels has raised funds from venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. Means’s brother, Calley Means, is a top adviser to Kennedy.
San Diego-based DexCom sells adhesive patches that track glucose in real time. Its products are designed for people with diabetes but have become more popular with people interested in tracking their health.
DexCom has partnered with Apple, Garmin and Google to connect their patches with smart devices. Google bought fitness tracker Fitbit in 2019 for $2.1bn.
Earlier this month, DexCom hired lobbying firm Continental Strategy, which employs Katie Wiles, the daughter of Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
Finland-based wearables company Oura Health has also been hiring lobbyists. Oura, which sells a ring that tracks sleep and vital signs, in April hired Ballard Partners, which has close ties to Trump. This month, Oura disclosed it had hired its first in-house lobbyist.
In December, Oura said it raised $200mn, increasing its valuation to $5.2bn. As part of the fundraising, DexCom said it invested $75mn in Oura and announced a partnership so that glucose data would flow between both products.
DexCom and Oura did not immediately respond to requests for comment.