Abbott gets FDA OK for strips

ALAMEDA, Calif. - Following the recent clearance of its Freestyle Lite blood glucose test strips, Abbott Thursday said it has also received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its new Freestyle blood glucose test strips. The strips minimize interference during blood glucose testing and are designed to offer better testing. Freestyle does not use a certain enzyme that can be affected by common non-glucose sugars, instead using one that minimizes the potential for interference. The first shipments of Freestyle will be sent to U.S. customers in August. Retailers and consumers can expect widespread availability by the end of October 2010.