In 2008 Abbott introduced a revolutionary new device, FreeStyle Navigator, designed to improve the lives of the world’s more than 500 million diabetes patients by offering continuous glucose monitoring with technology that could translate an electrochemical signal from the body into precise, real-time data. Doctors and patients who tried the device appreciated it—but it was bulky, hard to manufacture, and expensive. And without widespread adoption, it wouldn’t have the hoped-for impact.
Abbott’s leaders soon realized that they needed to go back to the drawing board. Four years later they launched FreeStyle Libre, a reimagined continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system in which an even smaller sensor applied to a patient’s arm sends data directly to a smartphone app every minute. It is now used by millions globally, and by the end of 2024 it will have generated more than $6 billion in revenue, making it one of the most successful medical devices—as measured by usage and sales—in history. The pivot from the Navigator to the Libre was a deeply consequential decision for Abbott, and others can learn from the principles the company’s leaders followed to arrive at and then execute on that choice.
