Vienna and San Diego-based digital health company mySugr has come out of the International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes with two big pieces of news: study results that show impressive efficacy of the app in high-risk populations and an expansion of its partnership with Roche.

The study looked at 440 mySugr users randomly selected from a group of high-risk (HbA1C over 8 percent at baseline), high-engagement users. They found that after six months, patients saw a nearly 20 percent drop in mean blood glucose on average and a 1.3 percent drop in A1C. mySugr partnered with clinical trial company ProSciento to conduct the study.

“For just an app, this is an incredible result,” mySugr CEO Frank Westermann told MobiHealthNews. “It shows that especially with these populations that are at high risk, we were able to [produce] significant impact on the diabetes management. … This was a population that was only using the mySugr app. No coaching, no calculator, really the plain logging app.”

While the data is promising, it’s worth noting that the group was selected from people who were exceptionally engaged with the app, checking it five times a day or more for six months.

Westermann said that the conference was more full of digital health interventions then ever before.

“The first couple of years we’ve been kind of a lonely voice in an empty room,” he said. “The patients pretty much embraced digital health from the start on, but it took a while until the industry got more and more involved and interested in digital health. And what we see now is the second wave, which is the payer also gets more and more interested. And they’re not only interested but ready to really make deals. In the US, we see the market is a little more mature, but in Germany we are able to sign large volume payer deals now.”

MySugr also expanded its partnership with Roche, which it initiated in April of last year. The partnership includes hassle-free integration of Roche Accu-Chek meters with the mySugr app, and even allows users to get a free Roche meter when they download the app, either delivered to their door (in Europe) or picked up at a phamacy (in the US).

The expanded partnership makes mySugr work with next generation Roche meters and makes it easier for users to share data from mySugr with care providers via the Accu-Chek Connect Online platform.

“With this expanded partnership we will continue to offer latest innovations to our customers that will empower them to seamlessly integrate therapy management into their everyday lives, so they have less to think and worry about,” Marcel Gmuender, Global Head of Roche Diabetes Care, said in a statement. “Digital health solutions have proven to help manage diabetes-related data more effectively. This makes data more meaningful and can ultimately lead to better therapy outcomes.”