April 2020 - The promise of future diabetes technology can be uncertain, even in the best of times.
But there’s at least one exciting new connected system for people with diabetes that remains on course for launch in 2021 despite current economic woes, its makers claim.
It’s coming from Northern California–based Bigfoot Biomedical: an ambitious next-generation Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) system known as Bigfoot Unity.
January 2020 - Diabetes treatment tech company Bigfoot Biomedical has raised another $45 million in the initial tranche of a Series C equity financing, with collaborator Abbott (NYSE:ABT) as the lead investor.
September 2019 - Bigfoot Biomedical is breaking new ground in reducing the pain points in diabetes management with a simplified monthly subscription, one prescription, and one copay service model for its integrated insulin delivery platforms, to treat insulin-dependent type 1 or 2 diabetes.
March 18, 2019 -From the outside, diabetes may look like a simple condition to manage but it's actually a constant math test where the right answer is nebulous and the stakes range as high as death. But a new technology about to get broader commercial release could make insulin management the self-driving car of endocrinology.
January 22, 2019 - Bigfoot Biomedical, developer of insulin-delivery devices targeted for launch next year, is poised to become a major competitor to established companies such as Medtronic, Dexcom and Insulet, Jefferies analyst Raj Denhoy predicts in a recent research note.
The analyst estimates Bigfoot's total addressable market at $21 billion in the United States alone, an opportunity that rivals even the largest of big pharma opportunities, he said.
July 28, 2018 - In their quest to make care better for people with diabetes, medical device companies are doing lots of innovating — in prices.
Medtronic is rolling out an offer to pay up to $25,000 if patients using its most advanced insulin pump end up in the hospital. Abbott Laboratories debuted its latest continuous glucose monitor at prices designed to be low enough to foster quick worldwide adoption. Most radically, Bigfoot Biomedical plans to offer its upcoming insulin devices for a monthly subscription price instead of an upfront fee of thousands of dollars.
March 29, 2018 - This week, Bigfoot Biomedical announced a $55 million Series B to advance their push to integrate glucose monitoring, insulin delivery and smart software. The financing will support a pivotal trial and other efforts to gain premarket approval (PMA) from the FDA.
Beyond tying together monitoring and delivery, Bigfoot wants to simplify the whole process of diabetes management. Under one prescription, users could receive the infusion system (unless they choose to give their own shots), glucose monitor, the app that talks to both and various disposables – though not insulin.
December 19, 2017 - The series B gives Bigfoot the financial muscle to move its automated insulin infusion device into a pivotal clinical trial in the U.S. next year.
Milpitas, CA-based Bigfoot is working on two products: an insulin infusion device that mimics the function of the pancreas and a smart injection pen. Bigfoot is putting a network of sensors and algorithms around the delivery devices to automate and optimize diabetes management.
December 18, 2017 - Bigfoot Biomedical Inc., a developer of a system to manage Type 1 diabetes, has raised a $37 million venture round as it prepares to seek regulatory approval for the product next year.
July 31, 2017 - But perhaps the most interesting (and somewhat surprising) new deal in the AP space comes from Bigfoot Biomedical, which continues to demonstrate its willingness to break new ground in pursuit of the most patient-friendly solutions for people with diabetes.
August 1, 2017 - After two and a half years of development, during which the company has raised over $40M in funding, the company has rejected one of the most respected names in diabetes tools––Dexcom––to partner with Abbott Laboratories for its initial launch. It’s not easy to make technology changes but Brewer, the CEO of Bigfoot, felt the switch was crucial. The difference in the two products came down to calibration and accuracy.
July 17, 2017 - “In the first generation of automated systems, we think sensors that require calibration have been the crippling aspect of the user experience. We’ve learned from our own personal experiences and from what we’ve seen in data modeling, that calibration is the biggest risk to a closed loop. People don’t do it well, or consistently or even at all. And that turns out to be a big problem. Our concern is that systems that require calibration aren’t going to be as easy to use or as safe as those that don’t require it.”
July 13, 2017 - When Jeffrey Brewer's son was 15, the boy nearly lost his life because he took too much insulin. The diabetic teen took insulin to eat a large bag of chips late at night. But about 20 minutes later, he forgot about that first dose and took another. He spent two days in the hospital, his father said. "It was only by a miracle that my wife woke up at 4 a.m. and checked on him," said Brewer, president and CEO of Bigfoot Biomedical. "He would have been dead by 7 a.m." Now, Bigfoot Biomedical and north suburban-based Abbott Laboratories hope to help prevent such problems — and make life easier for millions of people with diabetes — with a new partnership announced Thursday.
June 24, 2017 - “Artificial pancreas, or automated insulin delivery, is a solved problem from a technology perspective. What’s really NOT solved is how to build a solution that everybody can use and that is going to get reimbursed and prescribed by doctors. This is the challenge that Bigfoot has undertaken.”
April 6, 2017 - In 2002, Bigfoot Biomedical CEO Jeffrey Brewer’s technology career was flourishing, having founded two successful startup dot-coms that later became publicly traded companies. He had just moved his family from Silicon Valley to New York City, and was ready for new challenges. But when his young son received a devastating diagnosis just weeks after the family settled into their new home, Brewer found himself unable to focus on anything else. Stunned by the lack of information, high risk of error and antiquated devices available to help manage his son’s type 1 diabetes, Brewer began laying the groundwork for his most important technology project to date: automated insulin delivery (AID).
