Insulet Makes Statement in Automated Insulin Delivery Market

Insulet has been upping the ante in the automated insulin delivery market. Last week, the Acton, MA-based company acquired assets related to Bigfoot Biomedical’s pump-based automated insulin delivery and the assets of Palo Alto, CA-based Automated Glucose Control.

Insulet doled out $25 million to each company for the technologies.

Bigfoot said it would use the funds to help expand access to its Bigfoot Unity Diabetes Management System.

"Bigfoot has made valuable contributions to the industry through many years of research and development in these fields and we are thrilled to acquire these assets,” Eric Benjamin, Insulet's executive vice president of innovation, strategy and digital products said in prepared remarks. “Insulet has substantially strengthened its IP portfolio organically over the past few years. And with this acquisition, we approximately double our already strong IP portfolio."

Insulet has some history with AGC.

AGC and Insulet entered into a license agreement and partnership in 2016 based on patents and other intellectual property that AGC had licensed from the Dr. Francis J. Doyle III laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The two co-founders of AGC, Dr. Jennifer Schneider and Dr. Thomas Peyser, consulted with Insulet with respect to the licensed technology as part of Insulet’s development of its Omnipod 5 Automated Insulin Delivery system.

Benjamin said, “AGC played a critical role in facilitating the successful translation of research into industry by collaborating closely with Dr. Frank Doyle at the University of California Santa Barbara and with Insulet. It is exciting to see technology come out of the research lab and mature into a commercial application that improves the lives of people with diabetes.”