So much for a slow week
Yes we know it’s Taco Tuesday and we had anticipated a slow news week but so far anyway the wacky world has yet to leave for its annual summer vacation. So let’s have it and hope that with the 4th on Saturday things begin to slow down so we can get in some serious fun in the sun.
1. Another Tyler
Now that CGM is becoming the standard for glucose measurement all the BGM companies are finding new and creative ways to remain relevant. Here’s the latest:
“– BIOCORP (FR0012788065 – ALCOR / Eligible PEA PME), a French company specialized in the development and manufacturing of medical devices and smart drug delivery systems, announces today the signature of a distribution contract for its Mallya connected device with Roche Diabetes Care France.
As part of the agreement, Roche Diabetes Care France will distribute Mallya to pharmacies in France. This medical device is an intelligent 2-year reusable injector pen sensor that is compatible with the majority of insulin injection pens, both disposable and reusable. It automatically collects the insulin dose delivered with near 100% accuracy.
In the future, Mallya will also be part of the Roche Diabetes ecosystem consisting of connected blood glucose meters (Accu-Chek Mobile, Accu-Chek Guide) and digital solutions for better patients care.
Gluci-Chek is a smartphone application regularly used by nearly 60,000 diabetic patients in France. It brings together three major functionalities for personalized diabetes management: a carbohydrate calculation tool with visualization of portions on the plate, a self-monitoring glycemic logbook and a graphic visualization of glycemic results.”
So Roche joins Ascensia and LifeScan in the race to commercialize a Tyler. Yes these three major BGM companies desperate to remain relevant are trying to reinvent themselves using Tyler as their main platform. Never mind that even if they are successful, something we aren’t sure of, CGM will do to them and their Tyler what it did to their old BGM franchises, it will destroy them.
This being the case it makes us wonder why other than LifeScan neither Roche or Ascensia has yet to buy or partner with any of the many Dexcom wannabes. To be fair Roche was aligned with Senseonics, but they are smart enough to know that while the Eversense system works just fine being an implantable sensor is a non-starter.
For Tyler to be truly successful it must be sold as an insulin dosing system, with all the pieces of the system, including insulin, sold in one box. As we have noted it’s not a question of if a biosimilar short-acting insulin will get here but when it gets here. This is the reason Lilly and Novo Nordisk, each of whom with a Tyler under development has been moving at glacial speed. Lilly and Novo have no sense of urgency until this biosimilar arrives as they continue to sell plenty of Humalog and Novolog without a Tyler. This as we continue to state has opened the door for everyone else to bring their Tyler to market before Lilly and Novo.
There is no question in our mind that Tyler once here will change the dynamics of the insulin market plus do something great for patients making insulin dosing easier than ever. But this won’t happen using a BGM it will happen with CGM, which as we have noted in the past is the straw that stirs the cocktail. It won’t happen while branded short-acting insulins continue to dominate, it will happen when the biosimilar’s arrive. We have plenty of apps and plenty of connected pens or connected pen cap covers.
Yet what’s needed more than anything else is a set of brass ones. It’s hysterical watching all these companies stumble about unable to see the forest for the trees. Rather than take bold and deceive action they continue to over complicate a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For the BGM companies in particular this lack of deceive action is troubling as their very survival is at stake. It’s just a matter of time before CGM is used by all patients making BGM obsolete.
BGM won’t go away completely but the market will not be large enough nor profitable enough to sustain even the healthiest of BGM companies. The clock is ticking approaching midnight and then it will too late. It’s time to act and act NOW.
2. Isn’t an earnings announcement supposed to be about earnings?
We ask this as the Nemaura Medical earnings announcement contains more corporate speak then any real numbers. Now we are not going to dignify all the BS the company stated in their release but will tell you the numbers. Per the release;
Research and development expenses decreased to $2,009,000 for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $2,297,000 for the preceding fiscal year.
General and administrative expenses increased to $2,769,000 for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $2,180,000 for the preceding fiscal year.
The company’s comprehensive loss applicable to common shareholders was $4,200,000 for the 2020 fiscal year, compared to $4,800,000 for the same period in 2019.
As of March 31, 2020, cash accounts were $106,000, compared with cash of $3,700,000 as of March 31, 2019. As of June 29, 2020, the company’s cash position was $5,460,000 and an additional $2,350,000 due to be received from exercise of proceeds from recent ATM drawdown.
Pay close attention to that last paragraph as the company was nearly out of cash and had they not found more cash would be on deaths doorstep. The fact that this shame of a company can continue to find lenders is astonishing but hardly surprising. This isn’t the first nor will it be the last time that investors and lenders have failed to perform their due diligence. Nor will be it the last time investors and lenders fall for the story, the toy without asking if the damn thing is real.
While we think the company is full of it we cannot blame them for taking advantage of the situation. They are merely playing to their audience. These investors and lenders are willingly handing over their money. It’s not the company’s fault these investors and lenders are dumber than a doorstop. As Momma Kliff used to say when people are stupid enough to give you money without doing their homework take it.
