As you guys know I have been following Smartcells since inception. It was brought to my attention and noted on their website as of yesterday that apparently Merck feels strongly enough in the potential for the drug and basically is buying Smartcells. I guess you could consider this good news. I wish I had news about the trials but hopefully we will hear something in the next few months. Here is one of the links in decent detail about the info.
In this case if it works it will be money stream beyond for Merck. Imagine them having first crack at bringing a glucose responsive insulin to the market. Unless they can’t manufacture it at a reasonable price it would destroy all other forms of Insulin. Five hundred Million is certainly not chump change for any Big Pharma IMO. The thing is in reality maybe there is a few thousand people at best that even care if this becomes a reality. Many diabetics don’t even follow any research so they don’t even know this stuff exists. ON WITH THE TRIALS I SAY! ENOUGH JERKING AROUND!
Terrible to be negative, but my first thought was “oh, no.” Gee, can we make more money with the analogs we have now, or should we put many millions into developing something better." Hmm, let’s buy the company & decide.
I want Smartinsulin soon, too! It’s been the most encouraging research. AP–nope.
Thrilled about this… Merck will bring SmartInsulin to market if it is viable, of that I am almost positive since they don’t manufacture the other fast-acting insulins which would compete with Smart.
I don’t trust Big Pharma, either. However, their main motivator is profit. If Smart Insulin delivers on its promises it will replace the insulin we now use. To be the company exclusively providing it would be VERY profitable. So though their motivation is profit not our well-being, the two could come together and give us what we need. Whether it does so at a reasonable price, and how quickly insurance starts approving it is another question altogether!
It’s definately somewhat exciting just knowing that a huge pharma is in on this like hot butter on popcorn which gives me even more confidence the formulation is legit. The deal is for up to $500 mil ( Dr Zion is now a rich man) and they haven’t even done any human trials yet which says something. The unfortunate thing is its realistically still years away. From my understanding once the drug enters its first human trials its at least 7 years from commercialization and thats if there are no setbacks.I will do everything in my power if I am still breathing to get into one of the trials if they eventually would be schedueled in my area. It was noted in another article that their is a small trial schedueled in Belgium early next year including about 24 patients.
You can buy Merck stock if you have money that is. I know the subject of whether a Pharma selling product for a profitable disease wants any part of “whats good for the patient” but if the truth is if our society would rather continue to see human suffering due to profit loss then IMO when one becomes diabetic they may as well hand them a certificate that says “F******D FOR LIFE”
I would sooooooooooooooo like to believe - because this holds so much promise - I mean, think about it, if this works, it is “nearly” a cure and much less invasive than islet transplantation (which has its own set of problems). The one thing that may be in our favor is that evidently they are not in the insulin business so far? If that’s true, that’s a positive. But let’s hope the bidding wars don’t start and that they didn’t buy this only to up the price before passing it off.
Well for one thing the eventual selling price has to be reasonable especially if this ends up being the next generation insulin which will likely replace the crap we use today. My guess would be $100 to $150 per vial but I could be way off. I see no reason Merck would have any interest doing anything with this other then getting it to patients but being its still quite some time away even if it proves safe and effective there is always the possibility of another breakthrough in the interim. Also IMO its still far from a cure and even if it proves safe and effective it may not be able to keep sugars as tight as our own working pancreas would. That being said still very excited its close to human trials but right now off all the pending possibilities I look forward mostly to Exsulin which is already in phase 2 and CureDm with their regenerative therapies.
I think it’ll cost more than that, lol:) But I think that you are right, the cost will be lower than most if not all of the alternatives. It would be almost universally used for T1s and, unlike many other things in the works for T1s, would be useful for the larger T2 base as well. And there will be money to go around. No more pumps and supplies. A fraction of the number of test strips. Complications will go down year after year. While I still think the AP will be first, smart insulin would be superior in almost every respect if it goes online.
Tom my point about the price is this becomes reality there will really be no need for any other kind of insulin yet we would still need it for survival. I am actually suprised that Humalog/Novolog/ Lantus even got to the price it has being its life support medication which we know cost them a fraction of the cost and in the end if all other types of insulin were taken off the market they would have to make it somewhat affordable being many diabetics just like the general population have trouble affording even everyday expenses. Well just have to wait and see.
Sorry, I wasn’t dismissing your point. But I think the price will be driven up when there isn’t competition from other drug makers (at least not at first). The size of the demand and the need will hopefully keep it from getting too out of control but I only wanted to make the point that I think it will be pricy.
For most (not all) of us, it isn’t a question of what it costs, but if our insurance will cover it. I don’t even know the actual cost of the insulin I use today! In Guatemala I bought most of my supplies over the counter. They sold single insulin pens there, not a box of five (I didn’t even know they came in boxes until I moved back here!) and I paid around $13-16 each, more than I currently pay on insurance at 5 for $25. I always have to explain to people why I was spending more there on meds when they assume it was a lot less. It’s because I couldn’t use my insurance there.
I wonder if that once daily shot will eventually become a once a week, or once a month. Seems logical.
Could somebody explain for the unscientific mind, is it actually a form of insulin or does it have little nanobots running around inside your body in order to respond to your blood sugar??
Does it also mean we won’t have to test anymore? I guess we would still have to test, not to determine dose but to see how we’re doing. Hmmm. Maybe not! If you spiked too high the medicine (or whatever magic thing it is!) would bring you down right away, right? So no harm done?? Yeah, I definitely need Smartinsulin 101, or is that “Smart Insulin for dummies”
