New PDM/Pod info from Q1 2011 Insulet Corporation Earnings Conference Call

The entire audio recording can be heard at http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=209336&p=irol-eventDetails&EventId=3982318&WebCastId=1114314&StreamId=1671563



Here is some stuff I found interesting…



MM:SS



08:08 “As our partner, Dexcom, noted on their conference call last week, we are in the early stages of development of an integrated system that utilizes our next generation pod and their fourth generation sensor. We anticipate that an FDA submission could occur sometime in the first half of 2012.”



17:00

Question: “Does the next generation pod require a new PDM, or can patients use the existing one?”

Answer: “It requires a new PDM.” note - don’t panic–read q&a @ 29min below…



21:04 “We believe our next generation product will be a 2012 event…” “I think as we get a little more definitive on the timeline we will articulate to the market…that we’ll have an upgrade strategy. …We have the capability of forcing the upgrade strategy on the market and what we will do is probably do it in first come, first served fashion… get in the queue, get on the product… It’s a little different in Europe because everything is going through A distributor …so they have a supply chain… they know what’s going on in the individual countries, plus the backlog… that one we’re trying to time a little bit better. The US market, we will articulate as soon as we get a clear understanding of the timeline, we will clearly articulate to the market what the upgrade strategy is. …the first people on our product will be the first people to get the next generation.”



29:

Question: “When you start shipping, will Abbott pay for some of those upgrades? How’s that going to work? Are they going to cover that cost for you? Or is this going to be the patient will have to upgrade… if they are on a gen 1, or they bought in the last 12 months… into an upgrade program, what are you thinking at this point?”

Answer: “What we’re planning on doing is we ultimately want everybody to have the benefit of this new product. Certainly there is some financial benefit for us to do so, so we will ultimately, over a period of time like a six to 12 month roll out, once we launch, here in the US for example, effectively move everybody over to the new product, so we will supply the customer with a brand new hand-held (PDM) to accompany the new product. Keep in mind that the savings that we will generate on that first reorder is enough to effectively offset the cost of the hand-held (PDM). So in the first quarter of launch there won’t be any margin improvement because they’ll net each other to zero, but beyond that, we will receive all the margin improvement that we’ve been talking about. From an ROI perspective, that’s a pretty quick payback.”

Thank you for sharing the highlights!

Thank you for the post!

Thank you so much for posting this! We’ve been wondering when the ‘new, smaller’ pod will be coming out. :slight_smile:

Insulet’s long term future is looking better if new pods are cheaper enough for them to manufacture that it can cover the cost of handing out new PDM’s! What if new pods are more reliable? That would be sweet.

Im keeping my fingers crossed the pods are more reliable than the current ones, had 7 failed this month!

Insulet benefits greatly from reduced defects, both from a profit standpoint, and a public relations standpoint (we are part of their sales force) so I’m sure they are constantly trying to improve quality. They are using the same manufacturing partner for the new as the old, but perhaps design improvements will result in higher reliability.

Sounds like your pods were part of a defective lot, or they were exposed to something (heat, radiation, who knows) that made them fail. I haven’t had 7 failures in the last year. I trust they were replaced for free?

They were replaced for free, funny thing is, 5 of them were from one batch, then the other 2 were from the replacements sent, lol. I have had LOADS fail! I do not know if UK ones are made different to US ones? to be honest Omnipod is lucky they are the only patch pump at the moment as I just could not see myself going back to a tubed pump!

Lots of folks in the US had a ridiculous number of pods fail after receiving their shipments during the horrible cold temps that most of the country had during January and February. I’ve kind of convinced myself that the temperatures outside while your box is sitting at the doorstep and the temps inside the shipping facilities and trucks greatly affect the functioning of the pods.

It could of been all of that, the weather has been great in the UK, but then I do not know where the pods have been sitting before they reached me ;o\ oh well, lol

So…when are the new 30% smaller Pods coming??? Early 2012 or later part of 2012? Did the FDA ever give their final approval for the smaller Pod?

It depends on the FDA. Insulet submitted multiple copies (300 lbs worth) of a 7,800 document which addressed what the FDA needs to know to grant approval. Insulet believes it will occur in 2012, but can’t say precicely when because it’s not up to them.

I just saw this post on facebook: “New pods are shipping out this summer. They’re 1/3 smaller, have transparent adhesive, and have a blue canula. Team Type 1 is currently testing them. The new PDM will look very similar but will be able to receive readings from the Dexcom CGM.”

I don’t want to yell “Fire!” in any theater, but there is massive amounts of mis-info be thrown around…

where on FB did you see this?

For sure, there are clinical trials–the FDA required them as part of the submission. As for mis-info… I am just quoting what Insulet says publicly. The link is above if you want to listen to them 1st hand.

there is a group called “My OmniPod”. Someone named “Colin James” posted it.


I wasn’t able to get a link working…let me try again…

I agree. I was shocked to see that someone was claiming it was just a few months away! But they posted it on the internet so it has to be true :wink: lol!

I found it, not sure you’ll get a link to work as I think you have to log into FB to get to it. Would be nice if that was true but I think it safer to say that the reports from Erik are closer to what we’ll see!! I’d like to see the blue cannula as stated, but will keep waiting for the smaller pods :slight_smile:

Glad you found it! I see that it is group “10464701525”. If you google that fb group it should let you log in and view it, I think.

Yeah the link works if you’re signed into FB (I use chrome and stay signed in so it took me straight there). If not, google it like Kate recommended and it’ll be the first hit.

I am a member of the TT1 triathlon team. There could be something going on that I’m not aware of, but I haven’t heard of anything like that regarding TT1 and the smaller pods. I have a few emails and some texts out right now to see if anyone else knows about it. If I had seen the smaller pods or if I were using them, I’d let you know :slight_smile: I’m as excited for the smaller pod as the rest of the group!

I would, as Schmutz suggested, lean more towards the statements put forth from Insulet themselves in their conference calls (that says it will be a 2012 release after FDA approval of the dex integration). I mean, when I started on the pod over 2 years ago my local rep told me about the smaller pods and how’d they’d “be out soon”. As that release date has been pushed back more than half a dozen times and continues to be put just a little further out there every time (carrot on a stick, anyone?), I have relinquished the idea of getting the smaller version any time soon (not trying to be a party pooper, just trying to be a realist for myself :slight_smile:
I think Colin’s statements (the FB guy) may be a little vague regarding the timeline though…I mean, the story sounds much like what we heard on the Insulet conference call (new pod release “once the pods go to market” and then the new PDM will come along with it, and you’ll “just get them”), but his timeline and the timeline given by Insulet are obviously not coinciding. If I had to pick a “more correct” answer, I’d go w/ what Insulet says rather than 3rd party hear-say. Again, not trying to be a naysayer, just wanting to provide factual info for ya :slight_smile:

I do hope at some point I am wrong, and that it happens sooner rather than later!