D and The Guy – A blog about Diabetes in real life

The Melbourne, Australia based company Phosphagenics have finally annouced the first set of human trials for its TPM/insulin patch pump.

Ina press release published by the company, they indicate that a human trial has already completed proving the basic technology can deliver insulin to people with Type 1 diabetes.

According to Dr Esra Ogru, COO, the ability of the Phosphagenics’ TPM technology to deliver large proteins, such as insulin, through the skin and into the blood stream “has potential to reduce the number of invasive injections per day,” she said. “Our aim is to provide a basal level of insulin to people with diabetes over a sustained period. Currently basal levels of insulin are provided by injections. Basal insulin is the fastest growing segment of the insulin market.”

I can only hope that this time we actually get beyond the research and into a final product. We seem to have heard too many times that this type of technology is about to get into the market but we are still waiting.

Today I received a press release from Lilly about their latest innovation on insulin… 3ml vials… yep… I’m not kidding…

Over the last few years, Lilly has fell behind in the area of type 1 diabetes care. After the introduction of Humalog in 1996 we are yet to see any new significant advancements from the American giant.

The last few attempts have been really disappointing. First, the introduction of the Kwikpen, which although interetsing, only replicates what NovoNordisk and Sanofi-Aventis had already done with their isulins.

And then there was the issue with the discontinuation of Ultralente. Lilly discontinued four of their very old products because there was not enough demand for them anymore. However, they did not replace them with newer products. One can only speculate on whether this was triggered by the success of what is possibly the biggest insulin seller of all times… Lantus.

It’s always sad to see reduction of competition on the diabetes market, because competition is a key driver for innovation, better products and ultimately better care.  Lilly’s position is only a confirmation of the sad reality of diabetes drugs… it’s about business.

Diabetes Australia is a national non for profit organization that deals with all types of Diabetes. You could think of it as the equivalent (although unrelated) to the American Diabetes Association here in Australia. More importantly for people with D, this organisation is in charge of administering the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) that provides subsidized testing strips and other consumables.

Like many of its international counterparts, Diabetes Australia is organized in chapters or member organizations, usually one per every state. An interesting tension has always existed amongst different member organizations over issues such as branding and spending priorities. It seems now the issue has become too big and half the state branches have now split.

Accoording to a report published in the Brisbane Times, “the national organisation has been plunged into disarray with a walkout by the NSW, South Australia and Northern Territory branches and the resignation of the national president, Gary Deed, and the chief executive, Matt O’Brien, in recent days.”

The three organisations have said that “they would welcome the establishment of a new body to replace the national organisation.”

So, is this the end of Diabetes Australia? How will Australians with D be able to maintain access to the NDSS which provides $750million of funding over the next 3 years? How will the lack of a national representing body affect the care and advocacy of Diabetes in Australia?