A great hook up
This morning we read a press release issued by Valeritas (NASDAQ: VLRX) which contained the following passage;
“Achievement of glycemic targets occurred in 2/3 of patients and patient reported hypoglycemia was decreased by study end utilizing this therapeutic approach to insulin management.”
It seems that Valeritas has jumped onto the self-reported bandwagon. Yep just like our friends at OneDrop, the folks at Valeritas have conveniently forgotten that self-reported data is basically meaningless and proof of nothing. Given this fondness for meaningless data we think these two companies should hook up. Heck think of the possibilities, think of the avalanche of self-reported non-verified information they could promote.
Now we must admit that Valeritas has some ways to go but they could learn from OneDrop the masters of shameless self-promotion. But let’s be honest neither of these companies have much of a value proposition which makes this hook up even better. Yep they could come up with all sorts of “studies” which will of course always find they have the magic potion. Never mind that none of the conclusions drawn by these “studies” means all that much. But my goodness think of all the free publicity they will get.
What’s funny, more like sad, is people continue to fall for this crap. That for reasons we cannot understand no one stands up and says this is complete and utter bullshit.
See this is what happens when a company has nothing more than a way cool whiz bang toy. They do everything in their power to distract everyone from looking beyond the toy. For if they did these people just might find out that when it comes to making money or having a viable commercial strategy these companies are clueless. Investors in these companies are like the Black Knight in Monty Python they don’t see that their arms and legs have been hacked off but you can bet they’ll feel it when their wallets are empty.
These are the same people who are buying the BS coming out of Tandem (NASDAQ: TNDM). Yep the ship is sinking but never mind that isn’t that t: slim the coolest thing ever.
The world of diabetes is awash in money these days. Companies like OneDrop, Valeritas and Tandem see companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and others making the deep dive into diabetes. They see how much money they have and believe that a good PowerPoint will get them farther than a good business. Yep they have complete faith in the greater fool theory and quite frankly they should as history has proven that just because a company has money does not mean they are smart.
Heck just look at Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) a company with lots of money who can’t seem to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yep rather than sell Animas and recoup some of their investment better to shut it down and get nothing. What’s even crazier is they had offers for Animas and could have gotten something rather than nothing. But let’s say they did sell Animas and someone else made it work, that would be embarrassing, and we can’t have any of that.
What most don’t get is that the decision to shut down Animas was not just about money, it had just as much to do with being embarrassed. Selling Animas at a fire sale price would be tantamount to JNJ admitting they made a mistake when they bought Animas, and we can’t have any of that either. Put simply shutting down Animas allowed JNJ to cover their ass without getting embarrassed.
So, it makes perfect sense that OneDrop or Valeritas believe that some idiot will come along and buy their companies. That these buyers will be enamored by all the sizzle and never realize there is no steak.
Want more proof of this just look at Apple, a company that has wasted millions pursuing a non-invasive continuous glucose monitor that will NEVER work. Yep the Apple pickers became enamored with a technology that looks great on paper but unfortunately does not work no matter how much money is thrown at it. But what the heck Apple has billions so what’s a few million down the tubes.
We could go on here but why bother. The fact is people are buying all this bullshit. As Momma Kliff says so often; “You can try all you want but there is no cure for stupid.”
