Dive Brief:
- Abbott reached an agreement to acquire Bigfoot Biomedical, a company that makes smart insulin pen caps that can sync with continuous glucose monitors to provide dose recommendations.
- The companies did not disclose the price of the acquisition, but plan to close it in the third quarter, they said in a Tuesday announcement.
- The planned purchase would be Abbott’s first insulin delivery technology, adding to its position as one of the top CGM makers.
Dive Insight:
The acquisition would extend a six-year collaboration between the two companies. Milpitas, California-based Bigfoot has exclusively partnered with Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre sensors for its Bigfoot Unity system since 2017.
Bigfoot’s smart caps can be used with both long-acting and rapid-acting disposable insulin pens made by the three major insulin manufacturers. Dosing recommendations, which come from CGM data and physician instructions, are displayed on the pen cap. The system also includes a smartphone app connected to an online portal for physicians.
The company picked Abbott as a CGM partner because of its shared vision to make simple, affordable tools for people with diabetes, Bigfoot CEO Jeffrey Brewer said in a statement.
“We look forward to continuing to innovate together and to the scale Abbott can provide, bringing Bigfoot Unity to as many people who may benefit,” the CEO added.
Abbott, based in suburban Chicago, has a leading market share for its CGMs. The planned purchase would give it a unique position among diabetes technology companies. Currently, just Medtronic makes both smart insulin pens and CGMs.
"Bringing our companies together will allow us to further develop connected solutions for making diabetes management even more personal and precise,” Jared Watkin, senior vice president of Abbott's Diabetes Care business, said in a statement.
BTIG analyst Marie Thibault wrote that the acquisition was not a surprise given the companies’ existing partnership, and that it could accelerate adoption of the Unity system for people taking multiple daily insulin injections to manage their diabetes.
Bigfoot launched the Unity system in 2021 after receiving clearance from the Food and Drug Administration. Though still early in its commercial rollout, it was starting to win contracts with PBMs and insurers, Thibault wrote.
“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,” Thibault said.
