Our Christmas Wish List
Ok let’s get this out of the way – yes it is somewhat wacky for someone who celebrates Hanukkah to come out with a Christmas wish list but as we say it is a wacky world. Then again there are eight days of Hanukkah with each day gifts being given yet there are 12 days of Christmas but only one day when gifts are given, what’s up with that? Anyway before we get too far off track lets get to what is becoming our annual Christmas wish list.
1. Please NO more stories about the non-invasive CGM that Apple is working on. This story has been circulating for so long it’s become de facto accepted as truth. Hate to break the news to all the people who believe this is true but the company WAS at one time working on it but the damn thing doesn’t work, will never work and it does not matter how much money they throw at it. Yet the story lives on and is beginning to take on mythical properties.
2. As long as we’re at PLEASE no more stories about non-invasive glucose monitoring of any kind. We will not go into our normal rant as to why these things even if they could be made to work aren’t needed and won’t change a damn thing. The fact is when it comes to glucose monitoring it’s CGM that matters and no we do not need a non-invasive CGM either.
3. Speaking of CGM PLEASE no more stories about a company that will be as good as Dexcom. Or about a technology that will be as good as the G6 but cheaper. In the future before anyone even bothers to write about this how about some real data and an actual product not a prototype.
4. To our friends in Northridge how about a moral compass. You can tap dance all you want but the fact is you screwed up and if the FDA has their way you could pay a heavy price for your mistakes. Do yourself a favor admit your mistakes and FIX them. You own the insulin pump market and there is no need for any of these shenanigans.
5. To our wine drinking friends in France do everyone a favor and get your act together with Admelog. Lilly and Novo Nordisk won’t like this very much as it will decimate the short-acting insulin market but it will help your bottom line and help patients too. If you want to double down go ahead and buyout Google from the Onduo partnership, yes we know the partnership is valued at nearly $2 Billion, and no that is not a typo, but hey learn from us Americans and negotiate better terms.
6. Lilly you can help yourself by giving up on entering the insulin pump market and focus squarely on having the best Tyler. Yes we know your pump is way cool but you’ll make more money with a Tyler and have less hassles too.
7. Novo Nordisk PLEASE make up your mind are you an insulin or GLP-1 company? We know you can’t just leave the insulin market but you can do yourself and your stakeholders a huge favor by realigning around one product line over the other. And while your at it how about getting the oral version of semaglutide to the FDA too.
8. Back to the insulin pump world Insulet could do themselves and their stakeholders a huge favor by accelerating a low glucose suspend version of the OmniPod and putting the “closed” loop version on the back burner. Closed loop is way cool but with the 670G and the coming Tandem Control IQ coming your already way behind the curve and stand a better chance with a low glucose suspend system.
9. Speaking of our friends in San Diego do whatever you can to not just get Control IQ to market but come up with creative deals to break Medtronic’s stranglehold on formulary position. Your product is going to be better than the 670G but that won’t matter if patients can’t get it.
10. No Christmas list would be complete without something for our friends at Livongo, OneDrop and all the other way cool whiz bang cloud enabled interactive diabetes management systems – belief that the greater fool theory is alive and well as this after all is why you went into business in the first place. You can say all you want how you want to help patients but a big payday is really what you want so we hope you get it.
11. To the many “smart” pen companies hope that Lilly, Novo or Sanofi believe your system is better than what they are working on as this is your only hope for long term survival.
12. For BigFoot we hope 2019 is the year we get to see this way cool whiz bang eco-system with the shave club for men pricing model. Like the Apple non-invasive CGM we’ve been hearing about this for so long it would be nice to see the damn thing and not just a prototype either.
13. Another sit down moment as we hope Abbott doesn’t change their strategy with Libre, please don’t go nuclear with price as honestly there is no need to do this. You and Dexcom can co-exist quite nicely, both make money and whether you realize it or not you both need each other.
14. To the West Coast Mafia how about taking a few online business classes we admire your passion but whether you like it or not diabetes is a huge business. And while your at it remember that just because a patient does not use insulin does not mean they don’t have diabetes.
To all of our loyal subscribers we hope you have the best Christmas ever and that even goes for those of you who occasionally violate our copyright.
