7 Diabetes Technology Updates for 2018 was published on ASweetLife by Christopher Snider of Tidepool, 8 December 2017.
Here’s a glimpse at some of the companies and movements that I am going to pay close attention to next year as diabetes technology looks to take another major step forward in 2018.
- Tandem’s PLGS Algorithm
- Bigfoot Biomedical
- OmniPod Updates
- Dexcom
- Open Source Solutions
- Interoperability
- Advocacy
Read more: 7 Diabetes Technology Updates for 2018
An injection that melts fat holds out promise for the obese … reported on www.israel21c.org by November 16, 2017. So no, this is not directly about Type 1 diabetes … but how cool would it be to take a shot to melt away fat?!?!?
The cost to treat obesity in the United States alone is expected to rise from $325 billion in 2014 to $555 billion per year by 2025. It’s no secret that obesity has become a worldwide epidemic. The cost to treat obesity in the United States alone is expected to rise from $325 billion in 2014 to $555 billion per year by 2025. The World Obesity Federation predicts there will be 2.7 billion overweight and obese adults by that time. Put more starkly: A third of the world’s population will be overweight or obese in less than a decade.
Raziel Therapeutics, a Jerusalem medical startup, is developing an injection that doesn’t just smooth, but literally melts away fat cells. Unlike Botox, though, Raziel’s fat-burning approach has the potential to do a lot more than simply make you look better. “There’s no medication today for obesity that works well and will make the world healthier,” the company’s CEO, Alon Bloomenfeld, tells ISRAEL21c.
Raziel’s drug does two things when injected. “First it removes the fat cells th emselves. Then it postpones the proliferation of new fat cells,” Bloomenfeld explains. Raziel’s medication works by generating heat to use up some of the free fatty acid that’s produced by fat cells in the body, which in turn reduces fat tissue
Read more: An Injection That Melts Fat Holds Out Promise for the Obese
Dexcom Submits G6 Sensor to the FDA, as reported on diaTribe.org, 15 November 2017.
In September, Dexcom submitted its next-generation G6 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor for FDA approval. A US launch is expected sometime in 2018. The current submission is for a 10-day wear CGM sensor that requires one fingerstick calibration per day and includes a 30% thinner transmitter and redesigned one-button inserter.
But in exciting news, Dexcom also shared new plans to quickly move to a no-fingerstick-calibration version of G6. Talks are ongoing with the FDA, and Dexcom currently believes a no-calibration-needed G6 could possibly launch by the end of 2018. This will depend on how FDA discussions go over the coming months. Dexcom might choose to skip directly to the no-calibration G6, or might opt to launch the one calibration per day version first (followed by an update). This accelerated timeline to a no-calibration G6 follows FDA approval of Abbott’s FreeStyle, which does not require any fingerstick calibrations.
Beyond calibration, the G6 sensor is expected to have a two-hour warm-up period, no interference for acetaminophen (Tylenol), likely better accuracy/reliability than G5 (especially on day 1), and new predictive alerts. Like the G5 system, G6 will send real-time data to a receiver/phone app and offer high/low alarms.
Read more: Dexcom Submits G6 Sensor to the FDA
A startup looking to reverse type 1 diabetes just raised $114 million, reported on Business Insider by Linda Ramsey, 30 November 2017.
- Semma Therapeutics, cofounded by Doug Melton at the Harvard Stem Cell Center, a startup developing treatments with an aim to cure type 1 diabetes, just raised $114 million.
- It is using stem cells to make beta cells, which are key to regulating blood sugar in the body. In people living with type 1 diabetes, the body has destroyed these cells.
- If it works, it could lead to other regenerative medicine treatments.
Read more: A startup looking to reverse type 1 diabetes just raised $114 million
Vaccine Protects Mice Against Virus-induced Diabetes, reported on InsulinNation.by Audrey Farley, 11 December 2017
Researchers in Sweden and Finland have identified a vaccine that may prevent onset of Type 1 diabetes.Although experts are not certain what exactly triggers onset of the disease, they have long suspected that enterovirus infection (the most common type of viral infection) is to blame. The above-mentioned research supports this theory, as the scientists involved found that a certain enterovirus vaccine protected mice against virus-induced diabetes.
Read more: Vaccine Protects Mice Against Virus-induced Diabetes
University of California Irvine Startup Receives $300,000 Grant from National Institutes of Health for Diabetic Foot Ulcer Treatment, as reported by UCI Innovation Current. 24 October 2017.
UCI startup Syntr Health Technologies has received aInstitutes of Health, specifically the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The funding will help the startup further its research and development of a therapeutic device using stem cells to treat diabetic foot ulcers, enabling it to proceed with animal studies. The company seeks to address a problem that affects over 29 million Americans, or roughly 10% of the population, who are afflicted with diabetes mellitus (DM) which carries an annual sum of $245 billion in health-related costs. Over one quarter of those individuals are undiagnosed and therefore at risk for severe complications. Up to 25% of diabetic patients carry a lifetime risk of developing a diabetic foot ulcer, a condition plagued with poor healing, infections and ultimately, amputation.
Syntr Health Technologies is a UCI alumni-led startup participating in UCI Applied Innovation’s Wayfinder incubator program and located in the Cove’s collaborative workspace. The team was formed by a group of engineering students from the BioENGINE undergraduate senior design class.
Read more: UCI Startup Receives $300,000 Grant from National Institutes of Health
Israeli device banishes finger-pricking for sugar levels in diabetes patients, as reported in The Times of Israel by 5 December 2017.
Caesarea-based startup Cnoga Medical Ltd. says it has come up with a way to track blood glucose levels without pricking or pain. Its glucose meter, already approved for use in numerous countries worldwide, uses a camera to provide a diagnosis of blood glucose levels by observing the changing colors of the user’s finger. During a short training period, the device learns to correlate the user’s skin tone with previous glucose level readings.
The technology got the green light on Monday from one of the world’s leading diabetes specialists, Prof. Andreas Pfützner, MD, PhD, who came to Israel to present the company with his findings after having tested the technology in two clinical studies in Germany. “The results were surprising,” he told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. Pfützner held two clinical trials at his institute to validate the performance of the technology, and in both studies he found that the medical device performed “with a surprising level of accuracy,” the same as that of needle sensors.
Lilly Initiates Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Functionality and Safety of its Automated Insulin Delivery System, announced on the Lilly website, 5 December 2017. Really?! Guess they want more of the diabetes dollars: high price insulin AND delivery!
The AID system is part of the Connected Diabetes Ecosystem, which is being designed to make diabetes management easier by enabling people to use insulin more effectively.
The AID system is a hybrid closed-loop platform that uses connected devices – an insulin pump with a dedicated controller, dosing algorithm, and continuous glucose monitor – to automate insulin dosing. These components are designed to work together to automatically adjust insulin infusion rates to maintain blood sugar levels within a specified target range.
Vaping insulin? comes from a report by Diabetes Queensland (Australia),
Inhaled insulin is seeking a foothold in the insulin market, again. Back in 2007, Pfizer abandoned its once-touted Exubera, the world-first inhalable insulin after millions of dollars worth of investment. Exubera ‘failed to gain the acceptance of patients and physicians. We have concluded that further investment in this product is unwarranted,” said Pfizer’s chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler in 2007. Exubera was approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006.
Then there was (or is) Afrezza*, manufactured by MannKind Corporation, which was marketed by Sanofi. Sanofi ended the marketing deal on Afrezza in early 2016. The reason – hurdles too daunting to overcome like lung testing before you could use the inhaled insulin. FDA approved Afrezza in 2011 for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and MannKind turned manufacturing and marketing over to Sanofi. Afrezza was launched in February 2015. By 2016 Sanofi was gone.
This October, MannKind got a shot in the arm when FDA approved changes to the Afrezza label that would include new study data indicating time-action profiles. MannKind is presently looking to raise $US58 million to refinance Afrezza.
The newest player in the inhaled insulin market is Dance Biopharm with their Dance 501, ‘an investigational drug-device combination under development for treatment of diabetes with the intent to eliminate the need for injections for mealtime insulin’. Dance Biopharm, a privately-held biotechnology company, has completed Phase II clinical trials of its Dance 501. It uses a liquid formulation of insulin, instead of a dry powder, that turns into a inhalable vapour using an electronic device.
This month Dance entered into a Joint Development Agreement with Phillips-Medisize “to develop a version of the Dance 501 device* that has data connectivity for better management of diabetes treatment”.
“We believe our inhaled insulin product is state of the art and well-differentiated from powder based, non-electronic technology. It provides a platform for applying advanced digital medicine for diabetes management,” stated John Patton, chairman and chief executive officer of Dance Biopharm.
Read more: Vaping Insulin?
