Accuracy can be as EZ as 1, 2, 3 for patients managing their diabetes

New CONTOUR^® NEXT EZ Strip and Meter Combination is accurate and easy to use

TORONTO, Jan. 9, 2013 /CNW/ - A new, accurate and easy-to-use blood glucose monitoring system is now available for diabetes patients in Canada. The CONTOUR^® NEXT EZ meter combines easy-to-use features and next-generation accuracy with Bayer's new CONTOUR^® NEXT test strip to help patients better manage their diabetes.

"Bayer's new CONTOUR^® NEXT EZ system is especially accurate in low blood glucose ranges - which is important to help patients identify and act if they have low blood sugar," says Donnie Edwards, pharmacy owner and past chair of the Ontario Pharmacists' Association.  "It's so important for diabetes patients to have a monitoring system that is accurate and easy-to-use.  I encourage my patients to regularly self-test their levels to ensure they know where their levels are at during the day - this meter will make that process easy for them."

This powerful meter and strip combination uses innovative technology, which gives patients results that are even closer in accuracy to those obtained in a laboratory when compared to the current CONTOUR^® system.  Built on the legacy of Bayer's CONTOUR^® meter, the CONTOUR^® NEXT EZ meter is ready to test right out of the box and features Bayer's multipulse technology, a new algorithm that corrects signals from various sources of error and provides accurate results that patients can rely on.

Diabetes on the Rise in Canada

There are currently over 9 million Canadians living with diabetes or pre-diabetes, and these numbers are expected to rise due to the aging population, a rise in obesity and our increasingly sedentary lifestyle.¹ If left untreated or improperly managed, diabetes can result in a variety of complications, including heart, kidney, or eye disease, impotence and nerve damage.²

While there is no cure for diabetes, making changes to diet and lifestyle and ensuring that blood glucose levels are monitored and within the desired range is the best way to manage the disease.³  Self-testing gives patients the information they need to avoid too many high or low blood glucose levels day-to-day.  Accurate and efficient blood glucose testing is an important part of caring for diabetes and allows patients to determine if their meal plan, medication and exercise are working to carefully manage their blood glucose.

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¹ http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/what/prevalence/
² http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/what/facts/
³ http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/what/facts/

The CONTOUR^® NEXT EZ meter blood sample size is small (0.6 µL), has a large, easy-to-read display and a five-second result countdown for ease of use and delivers ±10% accuracy vs. laboratory method for blood glucose concentrations ≥4.2 mmol/L, and ± 0.56 mmol/L accuracy vs. laboratory method for blood glucose concentrations <4.2 mmol/L.⁴ It's also designed with No Coding^TM technology that offers automatic coding every time a test strip is inserted. It will notify patients when a test strip is under filled.

The CONTOUR^® system should not be used with high risk or pre-term infants or for screening for neonatal hypoglycemia. Diagnosis of neonatal hypoglycemia should be performed using a laboratory blood glucose method. Monitoring with this product should only be done with neonates that are more than one day old. For neonates exhibiting hypoglycemic symptoms, provide appropriate medical care to treat symptoms and monitor patient. If symptoms are inconsistent with meter results, obtain a laboratory blood glucose test.

About Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care

For well over 60 years, Bayer has been dedicated to the well-being of people with diabetes, leading the way in diabetes research and introducing dozens of innovations to help people living with this complex disease. As part of Bayer's commitment to its patients, we offer a variety of online tools to help make diabetes management easier. For more information on Bayer meters and test strips www.bayerdiabetes.ca or visit www.bayercare.ca  to become part of our online Canadian diabetes community.

About Bayer Inc.

Bayer Inc. (Bayer) is a Canadian subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international research-based group with core businesses in health care, crop science and innovative materials. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Bayer Inc. operates the Bayer Group's HealthCare and MaterialScience businesses in Canada. Bayer CropScience Inc., headquartered in Calgary, Alberta operates as a separate legal entity in Canada. Together, the companies play a vital role in improving the quality of life for Canadians - producing products that fight diseases, protecting crops and animals, and developing high-performance materials for applications in numerous areas of daily life. Canadian Bayer facilities include the Toronto headquarters and offices in Montréal and Calgary.

Bayer Inc. has approximately 800 employees across Canada and had sales of $808 million CDN in 2011. Globally, the Bayer Group had sales of over 36 billion Euro in 2011. Bayer Inc. invested approximately $13 million CDN in research and development in 2011. Worldwide, the Bayer Group spent the equivalent of over 2.9 billion Euro in 2011 in R&D. For more information, go to www.bayer.ca.

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⁴ Data on File - Current ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 15197:2003 standard states that ≥95% of results must fall within ±0.83 mmol/L for blood glucose concentrations <4.2 mmol/L and within ±20% for blood glucose concentrations ≥4.2 mmol/L.

SOURCE: BAYER HEALTHCARE