LIFECARE AS

Their core work

Lifecare AS is a Norwegian medical device SME developing implantable biosensors for continuous glucose monitoring in diabetes patients. Their core product, the Sencell sensor, is designed for subcutaneous implantation and long-term operation — addressing the fundamental limitation of conventional external CGM devices that need frequent replacement. In the FORGETDIABETES project they moved beyond the sensor alone, contributing to a fully integrated "bionic invisible pancreas" that combines nano-scale glucose sensing with intraperitoneal insulin delivery and personalized adaptive control algorithms. Their work spans hardware (the implant), software (control algorithms), and physiological modeling — making them a vertically integrated contributor to closed-loop diabetes therapy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2016, Lifecare entered H2020 as a solo coordinator focused narrowly on proving the commercial viability of a single product — the Sencell implantable sensor — through a small SME Instrument grant. By 2020 they had joined a large multi-partner Research and Innovation Action (FORGETDIABETES) with a far broader ambition: a fully integrated bionic pancreas system, adding intraperitoneal drug delivery, physiological modeling, and personalized control algorithms to their original sensing competency. The trajectory is clearly from product validation toward system-level integration, suggesting Lifecare sees itself as a core sensing component supplier within larger medical device ecosystems rather than a standalone product company.

Lifecare is moving from a single-product medical device company toward a specialist sensor component contributor in complex closed-loop diabetes therapy systems — making them a natural partner for any consortium building autonomous chronic disease management devices.

How they like to work

Lifecare has experience on both sides of the partnership table: they coordinated a small SME Instrument project independently, and later joined as a participant in a larger RIA consortium. With only 6 unique partners across 3 countries over two projects, they operate in tight, specialized teams rather than broad open consortia. This suggests they seek high-depth collaborations where their sensor technology plays a defined and critical role, rather than opportunistic participation in loosely related projects.

Lifecare has collaborated with 6 unique partners spread across 3 countries, a compact network consistent with their focus on a narrow but deep technology niche. Their partnerships appear driven by technical complementarity — linking their implantable sensor to partners providing drug delivery, control systems, and clinical expertise — rather than geographic or institutional loyalty.

What sets them apart

Lifecare occupies a rare position as an SME with a proprietary implantable biosensor designed for long-term subcutaneous use — a significant technical barrier that most software or algorithm-focused diabetes companies cannot replicate. They bridge the hardware-software divide in diabetes management, contributing both the sensing implant and computational modeling expertise to consortium projects. For a consortium building a closed-loop diabetes therapy system, Lifecare offers a ready sensing component with EU project validation history, reducing technical risk at a critical hardware node.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FORGETDIABETES
  The largest and most ambitious project in their portfolio (EUR 569,542, running to 2025), targeting a fully autonomous bionic pancreas — one of the most challenging open problems in diabetes engineering — placing Lifecare at the frontier of closed-loop therapy research.
• Sencell16
  Lifecare's coordinator role in this SME Instrument Phase 1 grant confirms they hold proprietary sensor technology mature enough to seek commercial validation, distinguishing them from pure research groups.