EASD Day One
Yes it certainly is a toy makers paradise here in Berlin and our good friend Loop the dead cat is having a field day. Want a patch pump yep got a few of those. Want a CGM my goodness we have a huge selection. How about conventional insulin pumps yep got those too.
Yet it’s not just the toy makers who like to play the copycat game. Want a long acting insulin not only do we have more than we need in the branded category the biosimilar category has multiple entrants too. We’d like to say we know more about what if anything Sanofi is going to do with Amedlog their biosimilar short acting insulin but we don’t more than likely because they don’t have any idea either. GLP-1’s yep take your pick long or short acting. Want a pill yep plenty of pills to pop.
We were also hoping to see the Solo Roche’s version of a patch pump. You remember the Solo, well we can’t blame you if you don’t as they bought Medingo heavens knows how long ago and are just now launching it, at least we think they are. Given the product is in selected European markets and this being a European conference we just figured they would have it on display in their booth. Makes sense or we thought it did.
It seems that yes you can see it but you have to be taken to a super secret room in a secret location where of course you can see it and ask questions. Now we must admit all this secrecy made us a little nervous especially for a product that has an ice cubes chance in hell of being commercially successful, so we took a pass. Momma Kliff warned us not to trust strangers especially to go see something that is nothing all that special.
From the strange but true department the Medtronic and Tandem booths are not just right next to each other but given the location and respective sizes of their booths one could easily mistake Tandem as a division of Medtronic. And yep there is a OneTouch booth here not sure why we’re mentioning that but what the heck. Speaking of booths thank goodness Insulet did not bring along their Animas copycat Pod in water display.
Getting back to Tandem for a moment we don’t know if anyone has stopped by the CellNovo booth or vice versa but the new Tandem t: sport and the CellNovo system may not be twins but heck they are certainly related. And people wonder why IP lawsuits are a full contact sport in our wacky world, go figure.
There is one company here, sorry we can’t remember the name, who’s got a CGM that looks exactly like the old Dexcom system -insertion device, transmitter everything. Not like this copycat has a chance either but it does reinforce the old saying that copying is the sincerest form of flattery, which when you think about it should the credo for every diabetes device company.
Oops almost forget want an “smart” insulin pen or a “smart” cap that attaches to a disposable insulin pen yep got those too.
By the way we really miss the Novo Nordisk spaceship, now that was a way cool booth back in the day. It’s also pretty sad that the coolest thing in the Novo booth isn’t a drug or device but the latest Colnago bike that is being used by Team Novo, that is one awesome machine. Go Team Novo.
Anyway that’s all for now maybe more later.
