NEWSFLASH: Animas Exiting Insulin Pump Market, as announced on DiabetesMine by Mike Hoskins on 6 October 2017. Johnson & Johnson, who owned the Animas brand, issued a press release that, effective immediately, no more Animas pumps will be sold in the USA or Canada and TBD internationally. 90,000 existing Animas pump customers will be affected.
The reasons J&J cited: “With changing needs of customers, rapidly evolving market dynamics, and increased competitive pressures, it proved too difficult to sustain the insulin pump business and we decided to pursue an exit of the business. This decision was extremely difficult and comes following the extensive exploration of all other viable options for the Animas business.”
Sadly, J&J has “partnered” with Medtronic to transition its existing customers to the Medtronic’s pump offerings. Both Tandem and Insulet are making offers to Animas customers.
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Protesters at Eli Lilly’s Headquarters Demand Transparency and Lower Insulin Prices, 13 September 2017, as reported by ASweetLife.org.
People living with diabetes and health advocates gathered outside the Indianapolis headquarters of pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly, one of the three major insulin manufacturers, to demonstrate for fair insulin prices. In the weeks leading up to the demonstration, T1International and People of Faith for Access to Medicines (PFAM) planned a peaceful but powerful, data and story-driven event to grab the attention of the insulin manufacturers, and the nation.
Insulin prices have been increasingly rising out of control and proportion; in 20 years the costs have climbed 1123%, while U.S. inflation stayed around 56%. People with insulin dependent diabetes in most income brackets are deeply struggling to pay for this life-sustaining medication, which can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars a month.
Read more:
- Protesters at Eli Lilly’s Headquarters Demand Transparency and Lower Insulin Prices
- Insulin Pricing Protest Draws Passionate Crowd (Grim Reaper and Dr. Banting, Too!)
Could Engineered Bacteria Implanted into Human Skin Produce Insulin? was reported by ASweetLife.org, 29 September 2017.
“Bacteria are excellent at doing things, and we understand these things,” says Dr. Yo Suzuki, a synthetic biologist at the J. Craig Venter Institute. “And one of those things we are exploring is if we can get bacteria to produce insulin.”
Suzuki is at the forefront of an initial investigation at the Venter Institute into whether bacteria can be manipulated to not only produce insulin, but manipulated in such a way that bacteria implanted into human skin can produce insulin in response to a person’s blood glucose levels.
Read more: Could Engineered Bacteria Implanted into Human Skin Produce Insulin?
Midyear formulary changes wreak havoc on diabetes care was reported on 5 September 2017 by Clinical Endocrinology News.
Instability of formulary coverage for drug and insulin can make it tough to treat patients with diabetes, and the problem is getting worse. By example: CVS Caremark removed 22 insulin products and drugs to treat diabetes in its July 2017 formulary update.
“This is a real problem,” Philip Levy, MD, an endocrinologist at Banner University Medical Group in Phoenix, said in an interview. “We have people that are doing well on one medication and then all of a sudden, their insurance carrier says you have to use a different medication and they don’t tolerate it. It’s a real problem.”
Claresa Levetan, MD, with Chestnut Hill Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolic Associates of Philadelphia, agreed. “It’s a very big problem. … In my practice, it’s a nightmare because I cannot choose to put them on the insulin or the medications that would be best for them.”
The situation is made more challenging by the sheer volume of money spent on insulins and diabetes drugs. Diabetes prescription ranked first among therapeutic classes in terms of total spend (13%), ahead of autoimmune (11.9%) and multiple sclerosis and HIV treatments (both tied at 4.7% each) for its commercial clients, according to pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) Prime Therapeutics. Three of the top 10 drugs by drug spend are diabetes medication (No. 4: Lantus; No. 7: NovoLog; and No. 8: Victoza). For its Medicare Part D clients, diabetes drugs also topped the list in terms of total spend per therapeutic class (14.2%), ahead of oral cancer therapies (11.3%) and respiratory (6.5%). Three of the top 10 drugs by drug spend among Medicare Part D clients are diabetes drugs (No. 4: Lantus; No. 6: Januvia; and No. 10: Humalog KwikPen).
Read more: Midyear formulary changes wreak havoc on diabetes care
There is a desperate need for new therapies that address the underlying cause of diabetes. The advent of the Human Genome Project has provided a unique window for researchers in the field of regenerative medicine to develop therapies that can utilize progenitor cells in each organ that are present in times of acute injury to regenerate new healthy cells. Reg peptide therapy may not only be another treatment for diabetes, but also provide a completely unique and innovative approach, which addresses the underlying cause of the disease. Reg peptide therapy has the potential to be another break through therapy as insulin was a century ago. With research expanding beyond immunotherapy to include islet regeneration therapy, the dismantling of both type 1 and 2 diabetes is upon us.
Mid-year formulary changes are terrible for all patients using any medication.
Yes Rick … you are so right!!! I feel it in so many of my other meds! Very scary and overwhelming!
Very sad about the Animas news as I love my OneTouch Ping pump. Mine just went out of warranty so was in the process of ordering a new one and they now won’t send it. It has been a fantastic pump with next to no issues in the 4 years I’ve used it. From a business perspective I understand J&Js decision when they only were able to obtain 90,000 customers. I’ll probably take a leap of faith and try the new Medtronic 670G, but even when I get it I may hold it for a while and stick with my Ping until it completely poops-out on me. I’ll probably cry when I turn-off my Ping. I’ll have a little pump funeral because I loved it so much.
I totally understand Sabrina. I LOVED my Deltec Cozmo … and then I was madly in love with my Asante Snap pump. My best advice is wait as long as you can. So much is happening. OR get the deal with the Omnipod, as that is the cheapest way into a pump. If you can not buy the PDM with your insurance, then you can save your pump allowance until new stuff comes out. But you can still buy the pods, if your insurance covers them … without burning your pump expenditure. Still a cheap way in and also a cool pump, with no tubing!