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Dumb Pumps are a Smart Move
Innovations in the insulin pump market have focused on incremental improvements,
steadily adding feature sets while decreasing size for type 1 diabetes patients. As a
result, today's pumps offer high functionality at a high price. What have not occurred
are disruptive pump innovations that drastically shift or expand the market. This may
be changing as companies are getting closer to developing simple, low-cost insulin pumps -
sometimes labeled "dumb pumps" - that may provide compelling benefits for a broad population
of patients and providers. To date, simple pumps have struggled because they targeted the
established, type 1 market with inferior products at only marginally lower prices. Success
is more likely when features and costs align with type 2 patient requirements. By focusing
on accessible technology for the many, rather than top-of-the-line technology for the few,
companies may access previously untapped patient groups and establish new sources of
competitive advantage.
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return to Health Advances' diabetes focus area.
Beta Cell Regeneration: A Look into the Future of Diabetes Management
The existing arsenal of diabetes treatments has significantly reduced the unmet need for
incremental improvements in glucose management. Next generation products will need to
offer "glucose plus" or be disease-modifying agents. This dynamic is driving heightened
interest in beta cell regeneration, the next potential breakthrough in diabetes treatment.
Several diabetes market leaders including Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Takeda have already
made related investments in early stage companies.
Beta cell regeneration's potential to be competitive or synergistic with other treatments
brings up questions on its place in the type 1 and type 2 diabetes treatment paradigms.
Health Advances interviewed JDRF's Executive VP, Research Richard Insel MD, Lilly's
Executive Director, Global Diabetes Brands Thane Wettig, and Transgeneron Therapeutics'
CEO Leslie Molony PhD, to discuss the potential therapeutic positioning of beta cell
regeneration therapies in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The following is an excerpt from the
virtual roundtable:
Health Advances: Where should a beta cell regeneration therapy be positioned in type 2
diabetes treatment?
Thane Wettig: "I think what is coming into vogue nowadays, more so than in the past,
is this idea that the better you do early on with controlling glucose, the better the
long-term prognosis for the patient. And so, if we treat someone very aggressively upon
diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and get them under good control for a prolonged period of time,
there is a lot of upside for that patient in the long-term. I think there are a lot of people
who just have thrown their arms up in the air, and said, 'well, metformin will always
be used first.' We don't necessarily think that's the case."
Leslie Molony: Well, theoretically the entire population could benefit . . . But
the catch is what patient population will be approved. Obviously regeneration is a new
treatment paradigm. Our plan is to look at the end stage type 2 patients initially and see if we can reduce the need for insulin
or eliminate the need for insulin."
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return to Health Advances' diabetes focus area.
Proprietary Diabetes Forecasting Tool
For the past 15 years, Health Advances has analyzed the diabetes market and developed sophisticated product forecasts for its clients. Our work has consistently demonstrated that developing accurate product forecasts in diabetes is more complicated than in other therapeutic areas. Specific factors that make this process more challenging include:
- Prevalence is growing due to increases in both incidence rates and survival rates
- Age at diagnosis and rate of disease progression are highly variable
- Mortality is not directly linked to stage of disease
- Treatment paradigms are shifting
- Penetration varies by specialty
request more information.
return to Health Advances' diabetes focus area.
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