Sorry guys but this post is coming with lots of frustration. This christmas vacation has been a total pain because I have been inside, not wearing a coat, and I have ran out of pockets to put all this crap in. It is one thing to have a wallet, keys and phone but then add a pump, CGM that is quite large and glucose … I feel like my legs are 3x the size they should be because of all the devices in my pockets. Lets try and hurry animas and dexcom along in combining this system. If anyone has any information on when this is going to be released please let me know!
Spenser
Listen to the Dec 1 presentation to Annual Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference at the address below. The Q&A gives you some insight into the schedule for Animas/Dexcom and Insulet/Dexcom product. I’ve posted the site.
http://investor.shareholder.com/dexcom/events.cfm
- Hank
Hank,
Piper-Jaffray has has removed that webcast. (The link says that it’s too old, “expired”.) Can you summarize for those of us buying new pumps in 2010 or 2011? Thanks in advance.
Rickst29,
Sure. They stated the combined device would be available in the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2010. There is another Dexcom Investor webcast today and there may be some new information.
Also, this is primarily an Animas issue so I’m also listening to any Johnson & Johnson presentations to investors.
- Hank
I just heard today’s Dexcom broadcast to the JP Morgan conference and they stated that integration between Dexcom and Animas should occur later this year.
They also mentioned they are working on moving technology from the receiver into the transmitter which will allow them to transmit data to the iPhone and Blackberry.
- Hank
Its great that they keep coming up with more and more ideas. I just wish that they could hurry up and make a decision on what to do and how to make our diabetes a little less complicated. Thanks for all of your updates hank.
Hank, thanks very much for both updates. My current pump dies 245 days (the “inspection” timer on these old Disetronic pumps is a fatal error), so their projections are a very tight hit-or-miss against my own replacement. I’m sure that others appreciate your info, too!
No problem. I hope the timing works out for you.
This morning, JDRF joined the Animas-Dexcom party. In a UK press conference, they announce $8 million of funding towards an “artificial pancreas”, (by which they mean automated pump boluses, NOT insulin producing cells). Their timeframe hopes for a device which can be submitted for regulatory approval in about 4 years.
Here’s the link: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100113/tsc-uk-diabetes-pancreas-011ccfa.html
The article talks about the communications software as being “the hard part”, and that’s definitely not correct. The hard part is creating a new Dexcom device with 100% reliability-- even the “luckiest” of us current users would never dream of letting Dexcom’s 7+ readings invoke pump actions all by itself, they’re just not accurate all the time.
Guys, with this new joint venture of creating an artificial pancreas, does this put an even long halt on the two in one receiver? I would really like for them to go ahead and combine it into one receiver and then work on the artificial pancreas. I mean after all, we know that if they say 4 years, it means at least 8. Its quite discouraging that they cant even finish one product before they decide to tackle and even more advanced project. ERR ANIMAS< ERRR
I speak for no one, this is pure SWAG: In the past, it seems that JDRF has reviewed their grants very, very carefully. I think that they would not have provided this funding without getting a thorough introduction to the technology which Dexcom plans to use to increase accuracy–
An improvement which MUST result in accuracy and reliability equal to, or exceeding, the results of fingerstick tests done on perfectly washed and dried hands. It’s not really an “artificial pancreas”, capable of producing insulin; it’s being described as merely a closed-loop monitor+pump device. Minimed is also working hard to achieve this.
No forward-thinking business “finishes one product” before they start working hard on the next generation, and even the generation subsequent. (As well as working in other product lines-- this could end up utilizing the technology behind the “long term” Sensor they’ve mentioned in the past). Animas is not yet in PMA with their Dexcom-enabled pump: that’s a matter of public record.
But I’ve just asked J&J/Animas to check my insurance and quote me a total (for copay), if I buy a ping now and upgrade later. For me, JDRF’s involvement inspires great confidence. Both the Ping Controller and the Ping Pump already have RF Transmit/Receive capability, and I feel that it’s definitely going to happen. The companies can’t possibly get the $8M if they don’t work together, and the first thing they need to do is integrate CURRENT alarm/control functionality. 3rd quarter? I’ll SWAG later, 4Q or 1Q-2011.
But I’m from Nevada, and I’d put my money down on the Animas Pump with integrated Dexcom functionality appearing before next June. And I’m so confident about this, I’d do it with a payback of only 5:4.
Ugh…these guys are so slow.
But when it gives fruit - the fruit is so sweet.
I see that most of this discussion was in January. Has there been any update? I am beginning to regret getting started with the Dex instead of just jumping over to Medtronic. I read somewhere this week that Dexcom is starting to work with the Omnipod. I hope this doesn’t mean they are putting Animas on the back burner.
j.
Very long, somewhat technical post follows. Since we’ve brought this back to life, I have personal words for Spenser and Jana at the bottom.
As some of you know, I’ve been watching the “inspection required” timer on my last DTron+ pump clicking down, into it’s final days, for several months. (On Roche/AccuCheck/Disetronic pumps, this is a fatal error which shuts the pump down. On their current “Spirit” pumps, I think that the timer is set at 6 years, but I might be wrong about that.)
Anyway, I was hoping to see, at least, the announcement of PMA for Dexcom’s own version of the gen4 system by now. The study which was performed to find it “more accurate” than the 7+, and demonstrate exactly how much more accurate, was finished in late April. I think that the PMA application was submitted shortly afterwards, under the identification P050012/S023. (i.e., supplement number 023 for changes to the original Dexcom device.) Supplements S022 and 2024, changes in the manufacturing of the current 7+ Sensors, have gone through – but there’s a hole in the sequence, at just the right time (early May). So I’ll take a SWAG: That’s the number we’re looking for.
It wouldn’t make any sense for Animas or OmniPod to build a product against the “hopefully, soon-to-be-discontinued” current 7-plus. Their software will work with gen4 – and so, Dexcom’s own approval is a PREREQUISITE for their devices. Sadly, I’ve run out of time. The “upgrade your almost-new pump for mere pocket change” policy at Animas is only 6 months long, so, if I bought one now, I’d be paying my own cash to upgrade.
And anyway, I’m very uncertain that Animas will offer Dexcom integration right on the pump. Omnipod certainly can’t, it has to go on the PDA-like controller. In the case of Ping, you could find yourself with just as many gadgets as you have now: You’re only replacing the Dexcom receiver with the Ping controller. Yeah, it’s got replaceable batteries, and yeah, it’s got a meter built in… but the “pocket stuffing” and risk of leaving it somewhere (behind at home, usually), remains the same. Not waterproof, either.
Although I could contact J&J’s Animas/Dexcom project manager on Linkedin (I know who it is), and have other contacts as well, it’s simply not worth pursuing: The pump companies can’t make a move until after FDA approves the Dexcom gen4, and there seems (to me) that there’s some unexpected delay which is happening in that process. This could be within the product itself, but it could also be related to the recent warnings about “wire left behind in the body”, or widespread off-label usage.
Animas is definitely NOT “on the back burner”. In both cases (Animas and OmniPod), it involves a relatively simple re-work of the radio frequencies in use. (Note: Animas and Omnipod probably cannot simply “add” support for Dexcom’s current radio frequency to their own, the antennas in these devices are pretty much stuck at one frequency for efficiency and interference reasons.) Nearly all of the development work, and other cash investment, is being done at the pump companies – Dexcom gives them tons of technical documentation, and hardware/software developers to contact with any questions – but the projects are at Animas, and at Omnipod. All three companies are entangled in FDA issues: the project to reduce frequency and severity of pumping accidents may be creating issues which the currently approved Ping and Omnipod didn’t have to face, and there might be something which has “slowed down” the approval of Dexcom’s own gen4 as well. (Could be in the device performance, but could also be tied to the recent warnings about “wire left behind in my body!” problems, and/or widespread off-label usage in alternate sites, and/or widespread off-label usage in kids… any number of things.) There could also be new “hassles” coming from FAA, FCC, and/or Homeland Security about the radios themselves.
Spenser, I usually wear multi-pocket pants. If casual khakis are allowed at work, then you might look for the label “carhartt” on some deep-discount Internet clothing sites- they’re work pants, with an actual hammer loop on the side, but that loop is very easy to cut off in a clean way. The fabric is pretty attractive, tightly weaved, and you’ve got two extra pockets: Left leg, a very narrow pocket along the side seam, towards the rear, which holds a thin cell phone perfectly – and the Dexcom fits too, although it’s a bit tight. Right leg, a somewhat wider pocket centered on the seam (and so, slightly visible from the front), that’s the one which I use for Dex.
Jana - the big deal with Medtronic was, and still is, all the people for whom it doesn’t work. My opportunity to actually try it BEFORE I bought was unusual. It gave me very bad results, and a bit later, Dexcom was approved and I tried that one (awesome results, I kept it.) There are so, so many people who paid their thousand+ bucks to MM, and then found that it didn’t work. MM says, “Tough: it’s yours, we’ve got your money AND WE’RE KEEPING IT.”
Do you own a MM pump already? If so, you could try to pathway your way into a revel with CGMS included – but my advice is to do whatever you have to to get a short trial before you buy. Some Reps can do this for you, and some Endos have try-out equipment too.I SWAG the odds of getting “I never get the alarms I NEED, my results are garbage!” from the two devices, when used by competent persons, be roughly 20% for Dexcom, but around 30% for Minimed. (A minority in both cases, but half-again more likely with Minimed.) That SWAG ignores the first day (in both cases), and it’s a total SWAG. But try it, before your put down all that money! Even if the money isn’t yours, it’s extremely hard to convince insurance to cover purchase of “the other one” after the first one turned out to… suck.