Diabetics will be able to avail of a more efficient glucose monitoring system if a new sensor is successfully developed by Elan and the Bioject Medical Technologies.

The joint venture between the pharmaceutical companies was announced yesterday. They are developing a glucose sensor which would need to be changed just once a day, unlike current "monitoring systems requiring self-administered finger-prick readings at least four times daily", a Bioject statement said. Elan, which has a manufacturing base in Athlone, and is quoted on the Irish and New York stock exchanges, will have a 19.9 per cent share in the as yet unnamed venture, with Bioject, a Nasdaq-quoted company, controlling the remaining 80.1 per cent share. Elan will have certain manufacturing and marketing licences for an initial $15 million (£10.3 million). The pharmaceutical giant will also make a $3 million investment in Bioject's stock at $1.10 per share, along with a $500,000 investment in that company's development of needle-free technology for injectable drugs.

Mr Jim O'Shea, the president of Bioject, said there was an enormous market for glucose testing and the monitoring system was expected to undergo clinical trials early next year. The system will consist of a patch-like sensor with a wrist watch-type monitoring device, measuring glucose levels on a 24-hour basis.