You may be seeing the Asante Snap pump again, even if Asante seems permanently shuttered. On May 28th, it was announced in a press release received by Insulin Nation that Bigfoot Biomedical has acquired all of Asante’s assets, including the Snap insulin pump. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This acquisition was first reported by diaTribe.
With the purchase, Bigfoot now has all of Asante’s intellectual and manufacturing infrastructure at its disposal for bringing its own pump technology to the marketplace. Bigfoot officials hope that this might speed up the process of creating a new pump system with an artificial pancreas algorithm. The process of getting FDA approval also might be shortened if Bigfoot can package its technology in FDA-approved Snap pump technology.
“We…expect this investment to de-risk the regulatory approval pathway, as well as substantially expedite our clinical trial plans for our automated insulin delivery system,” stated Bryan Mazlish, Bigfoot’s Chief Technology Officer, in the press release.
Unfortunately, this does not mean that current Asante Snap users will be serviced by Bigfoot. When Asante closed, its website urged customers to consult with their healthcare provider about switching pumps.
You can be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Bigfoot Biomedical. It is the first company borne out of the diabetes hacking movement. For several years, programmers affected by Type 1 diabetes who have been frustrated with the pace of innovation have taken matters into their own hands. They crowdsource to create DIY ways to improve continuous glucose monitors and pumps. The founders of Bigfoot Biomedical reportedly created an artificial pancreas system at home used by the child of one of the company’s founders. The company has raised some $3.5 million, and was seeking to raise an additional $10 million to $15 million this summer, according to MedCity News.
This purchase seems to be the final move to shift Bigfoot from a hacking endeavor to a fully realized business. Bigfoot now has a new idea, some funding, and the raw materials to bring their artificial pancreas to market. That seems to be all the ingredients you need to reach the starting line in the pump industry; it will be exciting to see if they can make it to the finish line.
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