The medtech giant had a long-term, vested interest in Bigfoot, a maker of a smart insulin management system. It dates back to 2017, with Abbott even leading a financing round for Bigfoot in 2020.
“We had a relationship and investment stake in Bigfoot for quite a while,” said Abbott Diabetes SVP of Commercial Operations, Chris Scoggins. “We dated before we married.”
Scoggins, speaking to Drug Delivery Business News at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida, said the decision came down to the consumer.
Market research found that managing the use of insulin proved a difficult aspect of managing diabetes, he explained. Pumps exist for a segment of the diabetes population, but that largely penetrates those with type 1 diabetes. Pump penetration in the type 2 space remains small, Scoggins said.
The company has made partnerships to connect its continuous glucose monitors to insulin pumps, recently hitting milestones in the U.S. and Europe. But still, according to Scoggins, the type 2 population is under-penetrated on that front.
“That’s where we see the role for a connected pen,” Scoggins said. “We brought on a lot of smart people that came from Bigfoot and we’re learning every day. This is their passion point and their subject matter expertise. We’re getting smarter and smarter on learning what they know and they’re getting smarter and smarter on how that comes together with CGM. We’re pretty excited about what’s going to bear fruit in the future.”
What Bigfoot Biomedical brings to Abbott
Bigfoot develops the Bigfoot Unity smart insulin management system. The FDA-cleared platform simplifies continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and the data they produce. The system works exclusively with Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre CGM technology.
It features a smart insulin pen cap, which takes data from a CGM and informs the patient exactly how much insulin they need. Bigfoot Unity also includes a customer smartphone app connected to a cloud-based online portal used by healthcare providers to support patients. The system works with the FreeStyle Libre 2 sensors and all major brands of disposable insulin pens offered in the U.S.
At the time of the acquisition, Abbott said the deal built on the FreeStyle Libre portfolio and bolsters its efforts to develop connected solutions for diabetes. Jared Watkin, SVP of Abbott’s Diabetes Care business, said the deal combines “two leaders in different aspects of diabetes care: continuous glucose monitoring and insulin dosing support.”
Scoggins likens the deal to when Abbott bought TheraSense and its FreeStyle Navigator technology, which eventually blossomed into the leading FreeStyle Libre platform.
“We evolved the product that was offered to the customer based on that strong technology,” Scoggins said. “The same is true for Bigfoot. We brought on some really talented people and a really compelling technology, like we did with Navigator. Now, we’re evolving ourselves into really doing what FreeStyle Libre promises as a brand: bringing something to market that is friendly and accessible.”
Abbott continues the work to bring a full offering to market, Scoggins said, but said the company currently sits in an incubation period. Bigfoot Unity in its current form remains on the market, but the company has work underway to prepare its pipeline, he said.
The company aims to simply help patients figure out how much insulin they need to take. Scoggins said this confusion can cause anxieties and cognitive impairment, among other issues.
“I think that pipeline is going to be pretty exciting when you bring together the philosophy that we brought to market with Libre and integrate it into the current incarnation of Unity,” Scoggins said. “We believe we can help consumers solve that problem.
A look at the space the company enters with Bigfoot
BTIG analysts Marie Thibault and Sam Eiber maintained their “Buy” rating for Abbott when the company initially announced the acquisition, saying the deal didn’t surprise them.
Nine months ago, they viewed the strategic tuck-in “favorably.” The analysts said it could accelerate Bigfoot Unity’s adoption for multiple daily injection (MDI) diabetes patients. Recent contract wins for Bigfoot further bolstered the deal, they said. The company also had positive data presented at last year’s American Diabetes Association conference.
Bigfoot Unity has been on the market for more than two years, having launched in some U.S. States in 2021. Brewer last year called it a “transformational attempt” to simplify CGMs and the data they produce.
“If reimbursement is more widely established in the U.S., the integrated ecosystem could drive some share shift from competitive systems toward Libre among those on MDI interested in smart pens,” the analysts wrote. “We acknowledge GLP-1s remain a long-term risk for the diabetes tech space, but continue to see a role for CGMs and insulin pens. We see this acquisition as a vote of confidence from [Abbott] in the future need for insulin.”
Not long after Abbott acquired Bigfoot, Medtronic won CE mark for its next-generation CGM that integrates with the InPen smart insulin delivery system. That could add competition to the market for the integrated offering Abbott and Bigfoot provide.
This technology provides real-time, personalized dosing guidance aimed at simplifying diabetes management. Medtronic management stroke to DDB last year about the offering.
