Last week, I spent a little bit of time at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, a nearly-thirty-year-old annual gathering that’s become “the health care industry’s premier financial event, giving more than 330 companies a chance to make formal pitches to institutional investors.” Due to a houseful of sickies at home, I wasn’t able to attend as many presentations as I’d have liked, but I did catch a few of the “biggies,” including the talk by Medtronic CEO William Hawkins.
As a patient, it is hard not to bite your lip at this event, where most of the talk is about market growth, dividends and return value to shareholders. But I tried to stay focused on picking out bits of information that mattered in patients’ lives. And one thing that struck me was the whole issue of developing patch pumps (tubeless/wireless insulin pumps) for people with diabetes.
With all this talk of market-leading innovation, why is it that only one small company, Insulet out of the Boston area, has managed to bring a viable patch pump product to market? The OmniPod system’s been on the US market since May 2007, and will soon be available in 11 other countries, including China.
Meanwhile, Medtronic’s been talking about introducing their own tubeless pumping system for what, at least two years now? Hawkins confirmed in his talk last week that we won’t be seeing theirs until at least FY11, not FY10 (this year) as originally planned.
“They just can’t get the thing built,” said David Kliff of Diabetic Investor, arguably the best-informed financial analyst focusing on the diabetes industry — and a very outspoken guy! (I sat next to Kliff during the presentation; below are a few of Hawkin’s key slides)
Medtronic has also frequently previewed its “next-generation” Paradigm pump, that’s supposed to blow Animas’ designs out of the water. That one’s apparently not coming now until FY11 (or possibly FY12?) either.
As far as patch pumps go, Medtronic is certainly not alone. There’s a whole laundry list of companies working on tubeless pumps, yet not one of them has managed to bring anything at all to market yet:
- CeQur out of Boston, developing a push-button pump for Type 2 diabetics
(pictured) - Calibra Medical, building the Finesse: delivers bolus insulin or pramlitide
- Cellnovo, with a wireless touchscreen pump in the works for at least four years
- Valeritas, working on the V-Go: a once-daily disposable insulin delivery system for Type 2 diabetes
- Medingo, developing the Solo: direct OmniPod competitor with a three-month life, electronically controlled (approved by the FDA but not yet available for sale)
- MedSolve Technologies, creating the Freehand: remote controlled, 80% smaller than OmniPod
- ST Microelectronics and Debiotech’s Insulin NanoPump: has large reservoir, miniaturized system
- Altea Therapeutics, developing a 12-hour and 24-hour transdermal patch pumps (through the skin), which it’s now co-developing with a company called KAI Pharmaceuticals
According to Kliff, the main problem with most of these pod-like designs is that they have too many moving and/or replaceable parts. That makes them too complicated to sell, i.e. complicates insurance reimbursement, not to mention making them too complicated for patients to use.
On top of all this, there is apparently serious discussion by the Powers That Be about instituting a US Medical Device Industry Tax as part of the healthcare reform movement. Any tax of this nature would of course hit the smaller, more nimble innovative shops harder than the big guys like Medtronic and J&J.
I guess what I’m saying is, don’t hold your breath for 2010 to be a big year for exciting new diabetes devices that you can actually purchase and use. On the other hand, I just know there are “a million points of light” out there — great minds coming up with great innovations for diabetes care all on their own: students, tinkerers, entrepreneurs, etc. That’s exactly why we’re investing so much time and effort into the DiabetesMine Design Challenge…
Maybe, just maybe, we’ll be lucky enough to find the next Insulet — a small group with a great new idea that they can actually convert into a real, usable diabetes tool for the here and now.
****UPDATE 12:00 pm PST****
Wouldn’t you know it? Just this morning as this post was being published, the JDRF and Becton Dickinson (BD) announced a new collaboration to develop an advanced insulin delivery system in the form of either a novel new infusion set, or a “patch-pump configuration.” JDRF will invest $4.3 million in this effort over the next few years. WOW. Keep your eyes peeled on that one!
I’m not a huge fan of wireless pumps (I LOVE being able to just take it off me at a moments notice, or move it around my clothing to fit my needs) but I’m glad that these options are available for people. We need diversity. No two diabetics are alike!
Did OmniPod say when they are coming out with smaller Pods??
I had no idea so many companies were working on tubeless pumps. My son started on the ping last week. Although we love pumping so far, I loathe the tubes. I’m looking forward to the day when Animas upgrades to tubeless as well. Who knows how long it will be though.
When I went to TCOYD John Walsh spoke about all the different patch pumps. I’m excited to see what patch pumps and traditional pumps have to offer but for now Im sticking with the Omnipod.
Amy, FY2011 is May 2010 to April 2011. Medtronic announced last June that both the patch pump and next generation durable pump would be out in FY2011, so I don’t know how this news shows them “falling behind”? Both may still be out in the second half of 2010.
I’m also sick that JDRF is giving more money to a huge corporation and calling it a “bridge to a cure.” What a load of crap. I’m now officially done raising money for JDRF. I might as well just write a check to a bunch of for-profit corporations instead. Less effort and the same result.
“The OmniPod system’s been on the US market since May 2007″ There’s a problem with that statement since I have been wearing a commercially available OmniPod since Nov 2005. I absolutely love the Omnipod and would never go back to a tubed pump. The Omnipod should be 40% smaller by the end of the year and the Dexcom integration appears to be coming out sometime mid year 2010.
Thanks for the update on the conference Amy. As Allison stated, I’m not a huge fan of the wireless because I use almost 120 units of insulin a day, so unless the pods can hold 300 units like the Paradigm 722 then, I’m not sure how useful a wireless pump can be for somebody who uses that much insulin. That is what I would like to see.
Hi Amy. NiliMedix is also working on a patchpump
http://www.nilimedix.com/?p=products.patch
Their ADI (non-patch) pump has FDA approval.
@Megan – the point was that it doesn’t look like the product will arrive this year. I hope I am wrong about that.
@Andy – you were lucky then. OmniPod was not officially available to mainstream patients until 2007.
Um, thanks for keeping me on my toes…
I attended an info session at OmniPod in early December 2009 during which the company COO (I think that’s the right acronym) dropped by. He gave a target date of ‘spring’ for a smaller pod: 42% smaller in every dimension.
Also, from a remark made by the sales rep, I gather that OmniPod has patented some key components of their product, which may be why they have a workable product, and others don’t. This is all surmise and guesswork on my part, though,
[...] of Diabetes Mine: Chasing the OmnioPod: Patch Me if You Can (I can’t imagine using a pump with tubing on a young child, though I know it works for some [...]
My brother in law has diabetes, and he is very tuned into the medical advancements in the area. I hold out hope that the cure for diabetes is on the horizon, but in the meantime, hope that there continue to be major advancements such as the patch pump!
I am a new user of the Omnipod system. I love the tubeless but had difficulty with the patch sticking to my skin post baths and sweating. The rep in my area gave me some SkinTac and it works wonderful so far. He also showed me a picture of the new pod next to the current one and wow, I was really excited when I saw it. It looked really small. I don’t miss my medtronic paradigm at all! I love that I can wear the pod on my legs, back , arms and stomach comfortably.
I’m looking forward to the day when Animas upgrades to tubeless as well. Who knows how long it will be though.
Although we love pumping so far, I loathe the tubes. I’m looking forward to the day when Animas upgrades to tubeless as well.
I don’t understand how this patch pump works. It’s like the nicotine patch, right, but instead of nicotine, the patch gives you the insulin you need, right? So where does a pump come into play? Thanks.
Someone needs to come up with another wireless pump because omnipod has allowed the almighty dollar to cloud their thinking. It is exclusively available thru them and they will not work with people that lose their insurance. In the past, I have recommended them to families with young children with diabetes and now the insurance companies are even beginning to baulk at paying for their expensive fees for the pods. One little second grader is going to have to go back to shots due to the insurance company tired of the high fees. Shame on omni pod. They need some competition. The GREED wins again.
I agree. I had Aetna insurance and they covered 100% of my omnipods! I recently had to change to Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas (which is HORRIBLE)! I called to get my pods mailed to me and they said I owe $400!!!! I’m sorry I was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of two and have no control of what my body does! It’s such bull shit! Let me live tube free and insurance free! I am 32 years old and now have to ask my parents for 550 every three months just so I can live!!! I am fed the hell up!