European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 51st Annual Meeting Executive Highlights
Our exhibit hall report covers 21 companies, including several unexpected findings on the technology side, and in pumps and CGM specifically. Startup Kaleido debuted a colorful new patch pump, while Ypsomed finally showed off its own durable touchscreen, prefilled YpsoPump. Relatively unknown Asian companies Diamesco (POCTech) and Medtrum had bold marketing for CGMs with reported MARDs of 10-12% (and in the case of Medtrum, plans to launch a predictive low glucose suspend system in Europe this year – no way!). We are skeptical whether either is the real deal and discuss both in more detail below. LifeScan came through with a new BGM 510(k) clearance (the OneTouch Verio Flex), while Roche announced plans to launch its Accu-Chek Connect (BGM + paired smartphone app) in Austria, Canada, Luxembourg, and France in the next six months.
On the drug side, Novo Nordisk won the award for most forward-looking approach to the exhibit hall, with a booth devoted entirely to new arrivals Tresiba (insulin degludec) and Xultophy (insulin degludec/liraglutide) – the company is clearly going all in on products that it believes have transformative potential. Lilly/BI’s massive booth reeled attendees in with videos of baby animals accompanying the promotional materials for the newly launched Abasaglar (biosimilar insulin glargine). We were a bit surprised to see such heavy promotion for the biosimilar insulin, though this is consistent with Lilly’s past statements that it intends to market Abasaglar as it would any new branded product. Sanofi’s booth had a clear focus on Toujeo (insulin glargine U300), though it also reminded attendees that Lantus (insulin glargine) is still king with displays urging clinicians to “choose the one you know.” In this season of CVOTs, cardiovascular safety was a theme of the day: Merck’s booth was devoted almost entirely to the positive (aka neutral) TECOS results for Januvia (sitagliptin), and AZ’s booth emphasized the reassuring primary results from SAVOR for Onglyza (saxagliptin) and the beneficial effects on CV risk factors with Farxiga (dapagliflozin).
Below is our complete coverage of the Exhibit Hall from EASD 2015. Booths included in this report that were not covered in our daily highlights reports are highlighted in blue.
Exhibit Hall
Abbott
Abbott’s distinctive yellow booth was packed with attendees’ enthusiasm for FreeStyle Libre, now one year out on the EU market. We did not glean any new insights, though tried our very best to learn about the US timeline for a consumer version – no dice (and not really any surprise). Much like last year, promotional videos and posters advertised the simplicity and convenience of the factory-calibrated technology: “You can do it during a movie”; “You can do it in a meeting”; “You can do it in public”; “You can do it on the dance floor”; “You can do it without lancets”; “You can do it anytime, anywhere”. Clever with a twist of innuendo – this company has really nailed the marketed on this product. A smaller component of the booth promoted the Ambulatory Glucose Profile software, which clinicians and patients both praised in Abbott’s symposium yesterday and which has impressed us quite a lot – boy has Dr. Rich Bergenstal worked hard on this and we’d LOVE to see this taken up by more so we can get more standardization going on. This lounge-like area featured a large-screen video presentation of the product and generated a surprising amount of interest in its own right. Yeah. They’ve got it going on. We also heard by the way that reimbursement in Germany (!!) was going quite well – that’s from our German blogger friends.
AstraZeneca
AZ boasted a sizable booth featuring its full diabetes portfolio and several interactive challenges for attendees, including the “type 2 diabetes challenge” (a delightfully tough quiz on diabetes statistics and pathophysiology that we thought was a very smart way to engage attendees) and a series of case studies complete with action figures to represent patients. Perhaps because attendees are on the competitive side (so many are doctors!), the booth was quite well attended. In what we thought was an intelligent approach, the positive (aka neutral) primary results from SAVOR were featured heavily in the promotional materials for Onglyza (saxagliptin), with large posters trumpeting the “demonstrated cardiovascular safety profile.” While the primary safety data was reassuring, the heart failure signal could hurt Onglyza to some extent relative to others in the class (particularly Januvia), especially since label updates are likely on their way. Consistent with most of AZ’s displays at recent conferences, the new Bydureon (exenatide once weekly) pen occupied the most space in the booth, with plenty of opportunities for demonstrations. SGLT-2 Forxiga (dapagliflozin) had a substantial presence as well; perhaps in anticipation of the upcoming positive CVOT results for competitor Lilly/BI’s Jardiance (empagliflozin), the promotional materials emphasized Forxiga’s positive effect on CV risk factors and reassuring safety data from phase 2 and 3 trials. In keeping with the cardiovascular theme, AZ also devoted a small portion of its booth to its anti-platelet drug Brilique (ticagrelor) – this is further evidence that focus on cardiology is building (good!) and the responsibilities for how to take care of patients and what a healthy patient looks like are becoming more critical (it’s about healthy hearts as well as healthy glycemic levels).Some would say the lines between diabetes and cardiology are growing blurrier – that may be, but we welcome the focus on all the components of a healthy “whole” patient (including mental health) and how to help get them there.
Bayer
Bayer was conspicuously absent from the Exhibit Hall floor, the only one of the Big Four BGM companies that did not invest in a booth at EASD 2015. The absence was not particularly surprising considering the company’s absence at ADA 2015 and the divestment of the Diabetes Care business to Panasonic Healthcare for ~€1.0 billion (~$1.2 billion) in June 2015. But we hope KKR will get with the program and invest some very needed R&D dollars into the next-generation technology. Although valuable Medtronic customers make up a lot of their users now, Medtronic wants to pull all of them toward CGM.
Dexcom
Dexcom’s booth in the far back of the hall advertised the newly CE-Marked G5 mobile system (“First fully mobile CGM”), which was announced yesterday in the company’s symposium (launching in the coming weeks in Europe). Signage highlighted the EU approval down to age 2 and the newly acquired replacement claim. Though G5 was under glass and not on formal hands-on display, a Dexcom rep let us play with a demo version of the new app. We’re very psyched for this. Our trial suggested a simple menu structure (Home, Trends, Alerts, Setup Wizard, CGM Scenarios) and reinforced the great use of color for glanceability, valuable lock screen notifications (like a text message), and the highly customizable alarms (22 different sounds, with lots of timing options). The demo version did not let us enter a calibration or see any data analytics, so we’ll have to wait until we try G5 in the US (also slated to launch in the coming weeks). Dexcom has done some subtle but meaningful things with the G5 app user interface – for example, the trend graph screen background dynamically changes color based on whether the current value is in-range (gray) or out-of-range (bright red or yellow). On the previous G4 receiver, the background remains black while only the individual glucose points change color. It’s another small but meaningful reminder of how much more is possible on a mobile app! Dexcom is highly highly valued but in stirring shape from what we can see – lots of things need to go right to sustain the valuation and so far so good.
Diamesco (POCTech)
POCTech advertised a new seven-day CGM requiring just one calibration at startup. A handout boasted a 10.8% MARD vs. fingersticks in an unconvincing 15-patient study (10 had type 2 diabetes, only 250 paired points vs. fingersticks). The rep told us a larger 110-patient study was just completed, showing a 10-12% MARD. There was no handout on the new study, and the rep was unable (or didn’t want) to answer our questions. Diamesco expects a CE Mark in early 2016 and Chinese FDA approval by the end of 2016. The company hopes to return to EASD 2016 announcing a launch. We are skeptical at this stage, particularly because the CGM flyer made several shifty data mistakes – for example, showing a graph with only one patient’s (!)data; using type 2s, who have lower glycemic variability and don’t provide a true test of the system; not using YSI as the comparator.
Diasend
Diasend announced integration with Dexcom’s G5 system. Excellent timing - it will be available right when G5 launches this month. Dexcom CGM data will now seamlessly flow into Diasend (no cables!), allowing combination with insulin pump and activity data (Fitbit, Jawbone). It’s a strong integration: patients will link their Dexcom G5 Mobile account with their diasend Personal account (from within diasend) to establish a permanent link (cloud-to-cloud). This makes the diasend integration low hassle for patients, platform agnostic, and immediately ready for Android once G5 launches next year. Like Apple’s HealthKit, diasend will still come with a three-hour delay between the CGM data acquisition and posting. Patients will be able see their Dexcom data in the diasend app, but are not required to, since G5 will also synchronize to their web-based diasend patient account (and linked healthcare provider account). The news also marks the launch of diasend’s new mobile app, which will be on display here at EASD.
Intarcia
As at ADA, Intarcia’s booth was centered around a plastic demo model with representatives demonstrating the insertion procedure for the ITCA 650 exenatide mini-pump. The procedure looked relatively straightforward to perform, although we imagine some patients and non-specialists could find it intimidating – word of mouth will, of course, be very important on both the patient and health professional side. Said one doctor who self-identified as an independent doctor, who is taking part by helping run some of Intarcia’s trial: “I’ve done this a few times and it’s easy – and my nurse has done it 300 times!” Several members of Intarcia’s management team were present at the booth and noted that the company has seen a great deal of interest following the recent positive FREEDOM-2 results vs. Januvia; potential applications to insulin have apparently been the most common line of questioning from attendees. The company appeared to be open to this possibility, noting the current mini-pump could hold about three months’ worth of insulin. Management also pointed to SGLT-2 inhibitors as another intriguing option – as we see it, a co-formulation of a GLP-1 agonist and either insulin or an SGLT-2 inhibitor would also be very intriguing. Outside of diabetes, the team also mentioned potential future interest in obesity, other metabolic diseases, or oncology, though they emphasized that Intarcia is “here in diabetes to stay.”
J&J/Animas
Animas was positioned in the middle of the J&J booth. The area was packed despite occupying a small sliver of the expansive J&J layout. Attendees crowded around an educational display on the features of the Animas Vibe integrated with Dexcom G4 Platinum CGM. Reps expressed big-time enthusiasm for the product, talking at length about how positive the patient response has been – indeed, it saw 32% operational growth in the US per J&J’s most recently quarter update. We did not see any reference to the recently announced partnership with Tidepool. We were dreaming and hoping to see a next-gen artificial pancreas offering on demo, but that was wishful thinking ... for now!
J&J/Janssen
In addition to a rainbow and a light-up model of the kidneys, the cheery half of J&J’s booth devoted to Invokana (canagliflozin) featured a very heavy emphasis on the clinical trial data demonstrating superiority vs. Januvia. This is in contrast to the displays at recent US conferences, where strong access and reimbursement have been the main themes, reflecting the benefits of Invokana’s first-in-class status there. Vokanamet (canagliflozin/metformin) also received comparatively little attention in this booth compared to those at recent US conferences, where it has occupied an increasing share of real estate at Janssen’s booths.
J&J/LifeScan
LifeScan’s portion of the J&J exhibit captured a significant portion (~25%) of the booth’s real estate, one of the larger investments we can recall seeing in some time. The company brought a pair of BGM announcements to EASD: (i) LifeScan has updated its data downloading software (the “Reveal” app that pairs with the VerioSync); and (ii) the company recently received FDA 510(k) clearance for its Bluetooth-enabled OneTouch Verio Flex meter.
- LifeScan debuted its new Reveal mobile app and web portal. The company has given a facelift to the software (which, as a reminder, pairs to LifeScan’s VerioSync meter and now the Flex meter) while retaining many of the positive features of the original software: a colorful time-in-range chart (blue for hypoglycemia, green for in-range, red for hyperglycemia); pattern recognition for any high or low glucose patterns; easy sharing of results via email or text message. We wonder if the data will now post to HealthKit on the iPhone, a complaint in reviews of the app. We are fans of more seamless and automatic blood glucose data upload, though hope the results can also flow freely to other platforms.
- We learned today that LifeScan recently received FDA 510(k) clearance for its Bluetooth-enabled OneTouch Verio Flex meter. The device has been available in the EU “for some time,” though we cannot recall having seen it previously. The meter is sends blood glucose data wirelessly to the Reveal mobile app on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. See pictures here. Reps did not provide a timeline for a US launch or pricing. It’s good to see movement from LifeScan on the BGM pipeline front (especially considering the very challenging US BGM market), and the company has trickled out a few new meters over the past year. The compelling advantage of the Flex over the VerioSync seems to be the addition of a color range indicator and a few buttons (the VerioSync is very slim and stripped down). This meter marks the third smartphone-connected BGM commercialized by a Big Four company, following LifeScan’s OneTouch VerioSync and Roche’s Accu-Chek Connect. We like that they are moving faster of late.
Kaleido
In the rear of the hall, we unexpectedly found Kaleido, a new patch pump company that debuted here at EASD (website). The pump and paired handheld are currently in the CE Mark process, and the UK and Netherlands are the first planned launch markets “soon.” The approach resembles Cellnovo, giving patients two reusable pump units, a wireless controller handheld, and an insulin cartridge that connects to a short on-body infusion set (5 cm or 30 cm). Unlike Cellnovo or the OmniPod, the handheld doesn’t have a built-in blood glucose meter. The body-worn pump and iPod-like handheld are both quite slim (measurements here), and the company has put a major emphasis on customizable color offerings. The pump cartridge holds 200 units, and the pump body is rechargeable, waterproof, and lasts for two years (the rep wasn’t positive on the latter). The handheld doesn’t have cloud/app connectivity, a downside vs. Cellnovo’s handheld and the upcoming next-gen OmniPod PDM. We asked the rep what separates Kaleido from OmniPod, and he emphasized the personalized colors and the ability to remove the pump (though it is waterproof, so this is not required). The rep had not heard of Cellnovo and was unable to compare the devices – this was odd and not confidence inspiring. We like the focus on making pumps cooler, though the key differentiator seems to be color – is that enough to distinguish Kaleido from everything else out there and coming along? The company making Kaleido is ViCentra, co-founded by Dr. Joesph Cefai, a principle founder of Cellnovo. We’re not sure about the IP and trade secret implications of that history.
Lilly/BI
Lilly/BI’s massive booth commanded attention with its placement in the center of the exhibit hall – this booth combined with Lilly’s adjacent display easily claimed the largest amount of floor space of any company in attendance. Approaching attendees were immediately greeted by an attention-grabbing display (complete with videos of baby animals interspersed with the phase “do we have your attention?”) for Abasaglar, Lilly/BI’s newly-launched (though only in ex-US markets) biosimilar version of Sanofi’s Lantus (insulin glargine). The marketing surrounding Abasaglar acknowledged that “first times can be awkward” and emphasized easing the initiation phase for Abasaglar. Walking further into the booth, attendees entered a rustic-yet-modern refreshment area that exuded warmth with its wood-paneled walls and coordinating wood floors. On the other side of the refreshment area, attendees found a variety of interactive trivia games based on Lilly/BI’s impressively broad portfolio of products (the broadest around). One game focused on Jardiance (empagliflozin) and Synjardy (empagliflozin/metformin) had participants tossing beanbags into different holes to answer multiple-choice questions about their dosing, mechanism of action, and more. For Tradjenta (linagliptin) and Jentadueto (linagliptin/metformin), visitors to the booth could try their hand at a Mario Kart-style video game in which questions about the products were peppered into the driving experience. Not to brag, but we placed 5th on the leaderboard during our visit.
Lilly
Lilly’s booth came across almost as an extension of the massive Lilly/BI booth next door, with a prominently-displayed reprise of the baby animal videos and photos for Abasaglar. We were a bit surprised to see such heavy promotion for the biosimilar insulin, though this is consistent with Lilly’s past statements that it intends to market Abasaglar as it would any new branded product. Biosimilar insulin glargine has been highly anticipated, largely due to hopes that it could represent a reprieve from skyrocketing insulin prices. So far Abasaglar has only been priced at a 15-20% discount relative to Lantus [insulin glargine]), though we expect that the discount could be steeper in the US (where full approval is on hold pending the outcome of a Sanofi lawsuit). New arrivals Trulicity (dulaglutide) and Humalog U200 KwikPen were also on display, though Trulicity’s exhibit hall presence continues to be relatively subdued for what is arguably a best-in-class product. The booth also included a corner devoted to Lilly initiatives including diabetes books for kids and the company’s NCD [non-communicable diseases] Partnership in developing countries.
Medtronic
Medtronic’s booth was mostly devoted to the new MiniMed 640G with predictive low glucose management. The pump launched at ATTD 2015 in Europe, and a demo today reminded us of the design improvements over the MiniMed 530G – e.g., a larger color screen, four way arrow navigation, more customizability for alarms, insulin-on-board right on the home screen with sensor information, the ability to stop a bolus mid-delivery, etc. We had two new learnings from our ATTD test drive: (i) the pump indicates boluses on the trend graph screen with a blue dot (helpful to quickly understand when a last bolus was given and how it affected the glucose trend); and (ii) the history menu includes more robust analysis, such as CGM pie charts showing time-in-zone. The rep told us that patients love the system at night, especially because the alarms can be turned off (allowing the system to work in the background with disturbing sleep).
Medtrum
Our red flag alarms went wild in Medtrum’s booth, who advertised a predictive low glucose suspend artificial pancreas complete with its own CGM (9% MARD, Bluetooth-enabled) and patch pump. What! The company plans to launch in Europe later this year. The reps freaked out when we started asking hard questions about the CGM data (comparator, in-clinic days, paired points, type of patient), and the vague posters around the booth were of little (read: no) help. We have low confidence this is the real deal.
MSD
MSD (Merck’s international equivalent) was very clearly all about the recent results from its CVOT TECOS for Januvia (sitagliptin), which demonstrated resounding neutrality. The booth’s posters exclaimed, “now even more reason to choose Januvia first as a partner to metformin,” with summaries of the TECOS safety evidence. MSD has even scheduled Meet-the-Expert sessions (three times a day!) focused on the CVOT’s data. A “Wall of Discovery and Development” in the back of the booth walked attendees through the history of DPP-4 inhibitors and highlighted the date of the release of the full TECOS results at ADA as the most recent milestone in the class’ journey. While the majority of the booth focused on TECOS, the booth also had a few standard posters on Janumet (sitagliptin and metformin HCl), a corner on the company’s LDL-lowering drug Atozet (ezetimibe/atorvastatin), along with iPads that gave attendees the chance to experience hypoglycemia virtually. Overall, we are not surprised at all that the company is making the most out of TECOS’ positive results, as management suggested it would do so in its last company update – these data will very likely maintain, if not bolster, Januvia’s dominant position within the DPP-4 inhibitor class, due to provider familiarity with the drug as well as the slightly more questionable results from SAVOR (for AZ’s Onglyza [saxagliptin]) and EXAMINE (for Takeda’s Nesina [alogliptin]).
Novartis
Novartis’ booth had an impressively large amount of real estate that promoted Galvus (vildagliptin) and Lucentis (intravitreal ranibizumab), with less attention focused on Eucreas (vildagliptin/metformin fixed-dose combination). On one side of the booth, tall touch screens featured images of various patient profiles, promoting the idea that Galvus is appropriate for a wide range of patients, specifically focusing on its renal safety and low hypoglycemia risk. On the other side, Lucentis was the star of the booth’s more interactive activities, branded as “designed to save sight” and as the “most prescribed licensed anti-VEGF therapy to help improve vision for diabetic macular edema patients.” Touch screens featured interactive quizzes that included questions regarding patients’ most feared complication (which was unsurprisingly problems with vision) and Lucentis’ mechanism of action. The booth featured other activities surrounding Lucentis including a retinopathy screening station (which used a telemedicine approach by sending your retina images to a remote ophthalmologist, perhaps hinting towards Novartis’ greater attention towards digital health) as well as a virtual reality simulation of diabetic macular edema. In addition, the booth promoted a strong sense of urgency around the diabetes epidemic, with the text “It’s time to do more about diabetes” on its overarching floating ring (alongside the logos of Galvus, Lucentis, and Eucreas). Several touch screens and videos were devoted to a theme of “Time2DoMore” with statistics from the IDF Atlas and calls to action, as well as ellipticals coupled with screens that attendees could use to learn more about the movement while getting their daily dose of exercise. With Galvus’ declining revenues and Novartis having even explicitly stated its reallocation away from Galvus, we were very surprised to see the larger size of the company’s booth, although we would guess that the larger European demographic (Galvus is only marketed ex-US) and the losses from the German market are strong motives to more aggressively market the drug.
Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk won the award for the most forward-looking approach in the exhibit hall, as its booth was devoted entirely to new arrivals Tresiba (insulin degludec) and Xultophy (insulin degludec/liraglutide). The Tresiba displays advertised the ability to “get A1c down with control,” accompanied by pictures of hot-air balloons “falling” along with A1c. The hot pink and grey displays for Xultophy spoke of “taking progress a step further” next to pictures of patients confidently descending a staircase. The new products certainly seemed to attract interest among attendees, as representatives were quite busy offering demonstrations of the new pens (both of which looked similar to the Levemir [insulin detemir] FlexTouch pen) when we swung by. Novo Nordisk is clearly going all-out for products it believes will have transformative potential, and we are very curious to see if this disproportionate emphasis continues at future conferences (particularly once Tresiba and Xultophy are approved in the US). Aside from product-specific displays, Novo Nordisk’s booth also took the prize for promoting a healthy lifestyle, with a refreshment stand offering salads instead of the usual coffee and members of Team Novo Nordisk in full cycling gear recruiting participants for the EASD 5K.
Roche
Roche’s booth was decked out in its classic navy colorway and located toward the right side of the hall, advertising a host of Accu-Chek products from the Mobile (one of its older BGMs) to the Insight (its insulin pump with prefilled cartridges) to the Connect (its newest BGM). Roche launched the Connect BGM and paired smartphone app (with a bolus calculator!) in the US in early August, and we learned today that 2015 launches have also included Australia, Turkey, and Brazil. The system hit the market in the EU in September 2014 with availability in South Africa, Italy, and Germany. Roche hopes to launch the Connect in four additional territories in the upcoming six months: Austria, Canada, Luxemburg, and France. Whether the company can establish reimbursement (especially in the tough French market) will be a key to accessibility, though regardless, the fuller scale launch is an important move toward reducing the hassle of downloading and insulin dose calculation for patients and providers. See diaTribe’s test drive here.
Sanofi
Toujeo (insulin glargine U300) was the clear focal point of Sanofi’s exhibit hall booth, with half of its outer perimeter taken up by the product’s distinctive green and purple logos. The materials on Toujeo heavily emphasized its flat action profile, with the slogan “the insulin of today for a steady tomorrow.” We liked that - it is what it is! Sanofi also reminded attendees that Lantus (insulin glargine) is still king with displays urging clinicians to “choose the one you know” despite the prominent displays for the new biosimilar version (Lilly/BI’s Abasaglar) and Novo Nordisk’s next-generation Tresiba (insulin degludec) a few steps away. Lyxumia (lixisenatide) was also allocated some booth space (its “award-winning” pen was emphasized), as was Amaryl (glimepiride). Aside from drug products, Sanofi also showcased its blood glucose meters, its “Every 1 Matters” initiative,, and a quiz game that donated up to €15,000 to the Swedish Diabetes Association. We think the GLP-1 combo with Lantus will be extremely successful – they may need another ratio eventually – and we will be excited to see this become an offering.
Ypsomed
The bright green booth debuted the company’s in-house developed, touchscreen, durable, prefilled insulin pump, YpsoPump. Launch is slated for Germany and the Netherlands in 1Q16, with a broader EU launch to follow. We had a chance to demo the device, which felt slightly smaller than a MiniMed 530G with an iPhone-like, black-and-white, fully icon-driven touchscreen. We LOVED the prefilled cartridge and thought all this was very easy. The pump will launch with prefilled insulin cartridges (160 units), and we can’t wait to hear who its insulin partner is. We might guess it is Novo Nordisk, who has a non-exclusive partnership with Roche for 160-unit prefilled NovoRapid cartridges for the Accu-Chek Insight pump. Overall, the combination of touchscreen, prefilled, and icon-driven could differentiate YpsoPump from other pump offerings in Europe. From our view, it’s more about expanding the market and all the companies should be getting far better data on this fron than pumps have had in the past. There’s lots of competition vs. the MiniMed 640G, Insulet’s OmniPod, Animas’ Vibe, and Roche’s Accu-Chek pumps – but the brand here has reined supreme. More details following our demo are below.
- Notably, the YpsoPump user interface is entirely icon driven and navigated by swiping left to right – there are no words to distinguish anything in the menus, a bold design choice that walks a fine line between simple and potentially confusing but we liked it. At points it may err towards the latter, making it hard to know what different buttons do without some training (e.g., we kept entering the history and priming and rewind menus, which have non-obvious icons). Of course, once someone learns what the icons mean, it would probably be quite liberating to navigate a pump in this way. In a major positive, the icon-driven interface makes the pump language neutral, a brilliant choice for a European product that clearly drove the design.
- The pump does not have a bolus calculator, though Ypsomed will give patients a companion smartphone app with this feature. YpsoPump has Bluetooth built-in, but in talking to the rep, it will not communicate with the smartphone app, so the calculator-to-pump transfer will be manual.
- Ypsomed also plans to launch a self-filling reservoir after the prefilled version. The rep would not disclose any timing. We assume the prefilled version will be the focus, given the marketing advantages to patients and HCPs.
- The Orbit infusion set will be marketed alongside the pump. The set offers 360 degree rotation and both steel and Teflon cannulas.
- As far as cannibalizing the OmniPod, a banner above the booth proclaimed “Freedom of choice in pump therapy,” flanked by icons of the YpsoPump and OmniPod. Both Insulet and Ypsomed have maintained that the pumps will not compete against each other, and there are certainly some points of differentiation. Still, much of the YpsoPump marketing sounds like the OmniPod – “Enjoy simplicity,” “Easy to learn,” “Easy to operate,” “simply discrete” – so it will be interesting to see what happens once both are available side-by-side next year.
-- by Melissa An, Adam Brown, Helen Gao, Varun Iyengar, Emily Regier, and Kelly Close