Dexcom Chief Tech Officer Leach discusses G7’s European launch and FDA review, expanding Dexcom One as written by Ricky Zipp for MedTechDrive.com, 10 May 2022.
Dexcom’s newest continuous glucose monitoring system, called G7, was released last quarter after receiving a CE mark in March. Dexcom released G7 first in the U.K. and will expand the launch across Europe throughout 2022. Meanwhile, the CGM system currently is under review by the Food and Drug Administration for an eventual U.S. release. Jake Leach, Dexcom’s chief technology officer, said in an interview that an FDA decision likely won’t come until after the American Diabetes Association’s annual conference in June.
Read more: Dexcom Chief Tech Officer Leach discusses G7’s European launch and FDA review
Dexcom G7 Update with Stacey Simms Diabetes Connection, 10 May 2022.
Dexcom’s G7 is in front of the FDA right now. There are some significant changes to the system, including what’s basically a snooze for essential alarms, including the urgent low. Dexcom’s Chief Technology Officer Jake Leach answers your questions about the adhesive, direct to watch, accuracy, and even mentions the G8.
Lilly wins FDA approval of new kind of diabetes drug was reported by Jonathan Gardner for BioPharmaDive.com, 13 May 2022.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro, a first-of-its-kind treatment that can help control patients’ blood sugar and, potentially, help them lose weight as well. Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, expands Lilly’s diabetes business, which includes insulins as well as other types of therapies. The company recorded $9 billion in diabetes drug sales last year.
Mounjaro works by stimulating two hormones, called GLP-1 and GIP, that control insulin production. In clinical testing, the drug outperformed several other diabetes medicines, including one made by rival drugmaker Novo Nordisk that only acts on one hormone. Mounjaro was more effective in controlling blood sugar than two types of insulin as well.
Read more: Lilly wins FDA approval of new kind of diabetes drug
Varieties of Starburst, Skittles and Life Savers gummies recalled was posted by Ramishah Maruf for CNN and reported by WRAL.com, 14 May 2022.
Mars Wrigley US and Canada issued a voluntary recall of numerous gummy candies Friday, saying there could be a thin metal strand inside the candies or loose in the bag. The gummies were distributed in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The company is recalling certain varieties of Skittle Gummies, Starburst Gummies, and Life Saver gummies after customer complaints. Mars Wrigley said in a statement it isn’t aware of any illnesses or injuries caused by the metal strands.
Customers can find out if their product is being recalled by clicking here. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has listed the 13 kinds of gummies being recalled. On the back of the gummies’ packet will be a 10-digit manufacturing code. If the first three digits match on the list, the item is being recalled. Mars Wrigley said those who believe they bought a recalled product should throw it away and contact the company at 1-800-651-2564 or by visiting its website if they have questions.
Read more: Varieties of Starburst, Skittles and Life Savers gummies recalled
Scientists create tattoo-like sensors that reveal blood oxygen levels was shared by Tufts University on MedicalExpress.com, 11 May 2022.
Engineers at Tufts University have taken an important step toward making that happen a functional tattoo with the invention of a silk-based material placed under the skin that glows brighter or dimmer under a lamp when exposed to different levels of oxygen in the blood. They reported their findings in Advanced Functional Materials. The novel sensor, which currently is limited to reading oxygen levels, is made up of a gel formed from the protein components of silk, called fibroin. The silk fibroin proteins have unique properties that make them especially compatible as an implantable material.
When they are re-assembled into a gel or film, they can be adjusted to create a structure that lasts under the skin from a few weeks to over a year. When the silk does break down, it is compatible with the body and unlikely to invoke an immune response.
Diabetics, for instance, have to draw blood to read glucose, often on a daily basis, to decide what to eat or when to take medication. By contrast, the vision mapped out by the Tufts team is to make monitoring much easier, literally by shining a light on a person’s condition.
“Silk provides a remarkable confluence of many great properties,” said David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Engineering in the Tufts University School of Engineering, and lead investigator of the study. “We can form it into films, sponges, gels, and more. Not only is it biocompatible, but it can hold additives without changing their chemistry, and these additives can have sensing capabilities that detect molecules in their environment. The oxygen sensor is a proof of concept for a range of sensors we could create.”
Read more: Scientists create tattoo-like sensors that reveal blood oxygen levels
The Golden Age of the Insulin Pump was written by James S. Hirsch for diaTribe.org, 9 May 2022. Here’s a great walk down Insulin Pump history lane!
The insulin pump has come a long way since the first prototypes were developed in the 1960s. We have entered the Golden Age of the insulin pump. It’s been a long time coming.
The third quarter of 2021 saw record revenue for insulin pumps – $859 million worldwide, a 22% increase from year-ago sales, and a 68% increase from four years ago. Tandem Diabetes Care, whose survival was in doubt five years ago, has now taken the industry by storm; n 2021, it shipped 128,312 pumps, a 41% increase from a year ago. The Insulet Corporation, which makes the Omnipod patch pump for insulin and other injectables, in 2021, surpassed $1 billion in sales for the first time and more than doubled its earnings, to $16.8 million, compared to the year before. The future appears to be even brighter. Grand View Research, a market research firm, estimates that the global insulin pump market will increase in sales from an estimated $4.6 billion in 2021 to $8.3 billion in 2028.
Freddie Fredrickson was a diabetes nurse educator in 1980 when she went on her first pump as part of a study to determine the technology’s impact on long-term diabetes-related complications – the pumps had only been on the market for a couple of years, making her a pioneer. She then joined MiniMed in 1983 as the pump company’s seventh employee, and she held numerous jobs over a distinguished 24-year career while working closely with Al Mann, the preeminent visionary in the field. In the early days, she said that physicians wouldn’t prescribe a medical device they didn’t understand; educating patients was difficult; and insurers were reluctant to cover an expensive, largely unproven technology.
Fredrickson still uses an insulin pump, making her one of the world’s longest continuous users of the device – remarkably, she has worn one for 42 years out of her 61 years with diabetes. Numerous studies, she said, have shown the benefits of pumps, but the glucose sensors have made all the difference as an ideal complement to pump therapy. After all these decades, she can’t quite believe that pump therapy’s original goals may be realized – she called it “amazing.”
While the prototypes for the insulin pump, developed in the 1960s, were strapped on like a backpack, the early commercial pump was named the Autosyringe but, weighing 17 ounces, was nicknamed the “big blue brick.”
Read more: The Golden Age of the Insulin Pump
Hey no wonder my iron reading when up last month. Who knew that those starburst candies have steel in them. It tastes fantastic and nourishes my iron as well.