Canadian Reader Alert! Tandem’s Control-IQ Coming to All Ten Provinces

By Sophie Skallerud

Tandem’s Control-IQ hybrid closed loop system will soon become the first automated delivery system available to people with type 1 diabetes in Canada

Tandem announced that Health Canada has cleared its Control-IQ automated insulin delivery (AID) system. Control-IQ combines the t:slim X2 insulin pump, the Dexcom G6 continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and an algorithm built into the pump that adjusts basal insulin delivery and gives small automatic correction boluses to increase a user’s Time in Range (TIR) and ease diabetes management. Control-IQ was cleared for adults in the US in December 2019 and was cleared for children ages 6-13 in June of this year.

Tandem hopes to start shipping t:slim X2 insulin pumps with Control-IQ technology to Canada during the first few months of 2021. People in Canada who are already using the t:slim X2 pump (and are in-warranty) will be able to update it with the new software for free from their homes, between March and December 2021. These users will receive an email with a link to a 30-45-minute training video that is required before updating the pump. 

To learn about how Control-IQ works to keep people in their target glucose range, read our article on Control-IQ clearance in the US. 

Tandem’s Control-IQ hybrid closed loop trial was crucial to Canada and US clearances. The trial followed 168 participants, ages 14-71, for six months. In comparison to the same pump and CGM without the Control-IQ algorithm, the Control-IQ hybrid closed loop system:

• Increased Time in Range. Participants using Control-IQ spent 2.6 more hours per day in range (TIR of 70% vs. 59%), with most of the benefit from spending less time above 180 mg/dl (2.4 fewer hours per day). 

  • The TIR benefits existed for every level of starting A1C – a positive sign that Control-IQ can help people already at a low A1C and those with higher A1C.

• Lowered A1C by 0.3 percentage points (A1C of 7.1% vs. 7.4% without Control-IQ).

• Reduced average blood glucose by 14 mg/dl (156 mg/dl vs. 170 mg/dl).

Learn more about the Control-IQ system here. To read about Control-IQ in the real world, read Kerri Sparling’s “First Impressions of Control-IQ” and Katie Bacon’s “Control-IQ: The Good, the Challenges, and Tips.”