ACTON, Mass. & MILPITAS, Calif.– Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD) (Insulet), the global leader in tubeless insulin pump technology with its Omnipod® brand of products, and Bigfoot Biomedical (Bigfoot), a leader in developing intelligent connected injection support systems, today announced Insulet has acquired assets related to Bigfoot’s pump-based automated insulin delivery (AID) technologies. Insulet paid $25M for the acquisition, which includes certain Bigfoot patents related to pumps that may be used for AID therapy.
The transaction further strengthens Insulet’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio and provides Bigfoot with additional capital to expand its Bigfoot Unity® Diabetes Management System to more people in need of connected insulin injection support technologies. The transaction also includes fully paid-up licenses between the parties in their respective business fields with respect to the acquired patents and other Bigfoot patents.
“As we develop innovative products for people with insulin-requiring diabetes, we continue to invest heavily in pump and automated insulin delivery technologies,” said Eric Benjamin, Insulet’s Executive Vice President of Innovation, Strategy, and Digital Products. “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. 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.”
AID systems like Insulet’s Omnipod® 5 System, deliver insulin through a pump that connects to and communicates with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Compared with AID systems, connected injection support technologies like Bigfoot Unity leverage smart pen caps to provide dose suggestions based on CGM data in connection with a healthcare professional’s recommendations. Different types of insulin delivery technologies are built to address the varying needs of people with diabetes. Depending on where a person is on their diabetes journey, one option may be more fitting than the other.
“Our history of innovation in insulin delivery has helped us simplify the complexities for this population, by eliminating the anxious guesswork out of daily insulin dose management,” said Jeffrey Brewer, CEO of Bigfoot Biomedical. “We’ll remain focused on commercializing connected injection support technologies and know Insulet can benefit from our patents to bring life-changing pump innovation to people with diabetes in parallel. Expanding innovation is our goal, and this transaction will help bring powerful technologies to the people who need it most.”
