Dive Brief:

• Insulet has paid Bigfoot Biomedical $25 million for pump-based automated insulin delivery (AID) technologies and patents.
• Bigfoot initially aimed to develop a pump- and pen-version of its AID system, but has narrowed its focus in recent years. The company’s prioritization of smart pen caps that pair with continuous glucose monitors created an opportunity to cash out of the pump project.
• Insulet, which already sells its own Omnipod line of insulin pumps, framed the Bigfoot deal as a way to double its own intellectual property portfolio and strengthen its market position.

Dive Insight:

Bigfoot acquired the pump technology through its 2015 takeover of Asante Solutions, the manufacturer of the 510(k)-cleared Snap insulin pump. At the time, Bigfoot predicted the acquisition would accelerate the development of its system for managing Type 1 diabetes. However, the startup was focused on injection-based digitized insulin dosing by the time Abbott became the lead investor in Bigfoot’s $45 million series C round in 2020.

Now, Bigfoot has completed its shift to focusing on injections by offloading its pump assets. 

“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,” Eric Benjamin, Insulet’s executive vice president of innovation, strategy and digital products, said in a statement. “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.”

For Bigfoot, the deal provides additional money to expand its Bigfoot Unity connected insulin pen caps. It is now almost two years since the company secured $57 million in debt and equity financing. That was the last time Bigfoot published a press release to disclose financing. Since then, the IPO market has shrunk and medtech venture capital investments have fallen, restricting companies’ ability to raise money.