Sava Appoints Former Dexcom EMEA Executive as Chief Commercial Officer

WHY THIS MATTERS

The appointment of John Bernard as Chief Commercial Officer on May 11, 2026, signals that Sava Technologies is ready to break the long-standing duopoly in the Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) market. Bernard’s pedigree is significant: as a former core member of Dexcom’s EMEA leadership, he was instrumental in the global launch of the G7 and the expansion into 40+ markets. His move to a startup like Sava suggests that the company’s “minimally invasive molecular sensing platform” has reached a level of technical maturity ready for global distribution.

The stakes are immense. While the CGM market is projected to reach $14.3 billion in annual sales in 2026 with 12 million users, this captures only 2% of the nearly 590 million adults living with diabetes globally. Sava is not merely launching a “me-too” device; it is positioning itself as a “next-generation microsensing” platform that aims to provide deeper metabolic insights beyond just glucose. By targeting the massive “white space” left by current manufacturers, Sava is moving to provide clinicians and patients with a more “elevated” user experience designed to drive adoption among the hundreds of millions currently underserved by traditional technology.

Sava Technologies Ltd., the London-based health technology company developing a minimally invasive molecular sensing platform, today announces that John Bernard has joined the company as Chief Commercial Officer. The move marks a decisive step in Sava’s transition from clinical and technical progress to commercial execution. 

Bernard brings more than two decades of international commercial leadership across healthcare and technology, including seven years at Dexcom, where he was a core member of the EMEA executive leadership team. During his tenure, he led growth across more than 40 markets, co-created Dexcom ONE and was responsible for the global launch of G7. Earlier in his career, he also held senior roles at Siemens, LG, Mozilla and Sony. 

He joins Sava at a time of accelerating demand for CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) technologies and growing commercial opportunity across international diabetes markets. The CGM market is forecasted to generate approximately $14.3 billion in annual sales globally in 2026, with around 12 million users worldwide. This represents only a fraction of the estimated 589 million adults aged 20-79 years living with diabetes, a figure projected to rise to 853 million by 2050.

Despite this accelerating demand, the global CGM market remains a duopoly dominated by two manufacturers, leaving distributors, clinicians and patients with limited access to differentiated technologies.

Sava is building its market entry strategy around this opportunity, with advanced commercial discussions already underway with leading distributors across major diabetes markets in Europe and internationally, as demand grows for new entrants capable of expanding choice and innovation in the category. Bernard brings the category experience and international execution track record required to convert that momentum into long-term commercial scale.

Renato Circi, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Sava, said: 

“John’s appointment marks a shift in philosophy at Sava as we move our focus from the design phase to bringing our platform to people worldwide.

Sava hasn’t set out to launch “another CGM.” We’ve spent years engineering something fundamentally different: a more elevated user experience delivering deeper insights that go beyond glucose alone. Designed around what people want, not just what they clinically need.

John helped bring CGM to market when it was still a completely new way of sensing. Now, he’ll help bring to life the next generation of monitoring. Something new. Something better.”

John Bernard, Chief Commercial Officer at Sava, said:

“Across Europe and beyond, there is strong demand for truly differentiated platforms built for long-term scale. Our focus now is disciplined execution, converting this early traction into commercial partnerships and bringing Sava’s next-generation microsensing technology to people living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.”

FF NEWS TAKE

Sava is making a classic “category-killer” move by poaching the talent that built the current industry leader. John Bernard doesn’t just bring relationships with distributors; he brings the blueprint for how to scale a sensing technology from a clinical novelty to a household name. This “shift in philosophy” from R&D to commercial execution—led by co-founders Renato Circi and Rafael de Oliviera—indicates that Sava’s hardware is likely past the final regulatory hurdles for major European markets.

However, Sava’s success hinges on its ability to prove it is “fundamentally different.” In a market dominated by the massive R&D budgets of Abbott and Dexcom, Sava must lean into its “microsensing” differentiator—potentially offering a smaller form factor or multi-analyte sensing (e.g., lactate or ketones alongside glucose) that current tech lacks. With advanced commercial discussions already underway with international distributors, Bernard’s mission is to turn Sava’s intellectual property into a “third pillar” of the global diabetes management stack, proving that in 2026, there is still room for a disruptive, London-based challenger to redefine the standard of care.