Captain Obvious
Just when you think you have seen everything in this wacky world of ours something comes along that makes you sit up and take notice. With all the copycat drugs and devices we now have this doesn’t happen often. Nine times out of ten a company claims to have something whiz bang way cool that’s brand spanking new, when in reality it’s just an old idea in a shiny new...
The more things change …..
Now that earnings season is over, and we prepare for the upcoming ADA Scientific Sessions in that beautiful city by the bay some reflective thoughts on what we have learned and what lies ahead. Looking at the pharma side of the ledger first it can be best summed up by stating the more things change the more they stay the same. While there was a time when it looked like this...
The end of the white walkers
Anyone who watched the last episode of Game of Thrones knows the white walkers are no more but the battle for the iron throne is still being fought. While it’s anyone’s guess who shall sit on the throne one thing is certain millions are watching, waiting and debating. Although we cannot yet say that same situation is playing out in the insulin pump world it’s getting pretty damn close. Medtronic...
Taking a different view
It likely will surprise no one that we have a slightly different view of the recent round of earnings. Since Lilly began the recent round lets start with our friends In Indianapolis. While everyone is focusing on the continued pricing pressure in the diabetes drug sector, the further commodization of the insulin market and possible changes to Medicare reimbursement i.e. elimination of rebates, this is really old news. The reality...
Update
Yesterday two posts went out – the first Meet Austin – the second What Day is it? – due to a glitch in the email delivery system some subscribers may have received the second post of the day twice but did not receive the first post of the day at all. We regret this error and are working so this does not happen in the future. To see all our posts...
What day is it?
This morning we woke up and had to check our calendar to make it sure it wasn’t April Fool’s Day. The reason for this double take a new study that … wait for it … looked at the association between A1C and … wait for it … bloggers. And no we are not kidding. Per a post on the AJMC website; “A recent study that looked at this question found there...
Meet Austin
Earlier this week it was reported that Amazon after acquiring PillPack for $1 billion is making a deeper dive into the diabetes pool. Per a post on the BioPhramaDive web site; “Amazon has begun marketing PillPack's at-home prescription drug delivery to Amazon Prime members via email and created a webpage about the service.” “The marketing effort so far targets chronic conditions. The medications highlighted on the PillPack marketing include high blood pressure...
No kidding
Before we get into the numbers take a look at this from Abbott’s press release this morning; “During the quarter, Abbott released real-world data from nearly 500,000 users that shows higher rates of scanning with its FreeStyle Libre system improves glucose control for people living with diabetes.” Now we don’t want to be snarky, but this is like saying Tiger Woods won the Masters because he had the lowest score. We have...
Is it over?
Funny thing when a stock comes under a short attack it’s next to impossible to determine when the attack is over. As we reported Dexcom has come under attack, got hit pretty hard but has rallied recently. So the question becomes is the attack over or is this just a lull before the next salvo. Honestly, we have no idea but here is what we do know- 1. Our long-term outlook...
End Game?
Yesterday during a congressional hearing lawmakers gave the insulin companies and PBM’s an earful. As we expected there was plenty of finger pointing as to who is to blame for the high cost of insulin. There were also several ideas thrown as to how to solve this problem. About the only thing everyone seemed to agree on was insulin cost too much and something should be done about it. This...