Bigfoot Biomedical: The artificial pancreas company with DIY roots
Bigfoot Biomedical stepped out of the shadows in the summer of 2015, looking to develop their own artificial pancreas system with the help of Bryan Mazlish, a former player in quantitative finance who used his knowledge of algorithms to develop a homebrew “bionic pancreas” for his wife and son.
Both Mazlish’s son and wife used his hacked artificial pancreas devices for over a year, according to interviews with the family. A Wired article in 2014 covering home diabetes device hackers surreptitiously referred to Mazlish as “bigfoot” to hide his identity. The name stuck.
Since then, Bigfoot has rocketed forward, winning support from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which in January made an unspecified equity investment through its T1D Fund into the company and the Smartloop automated insulin delivery system it’s developing.
Bigfoot bills the Smartloop system as “the world’s 1st Internet-of-Things medical device system delivered as a monthly service,” based on a “cloud-connected ecosystem” designed to link wearable insulin delivery and glucose monitoring devices controlled via smartphone.
Bigfoot in mid-2015 bought the assets of shuttered insulin pump maker Asante and moved into its Silicon Valley headquarters, saying it planned to integrate Asante’s FDA-cleared Snap insulin pump into its own system. A year later, Bigfoot launched a clinical trial of the Smartloop platform. The company has inked deals with “leading glucose monitoring companies,” including Dexcom and now employs some 40 workers.
Last October, Milpitas, Calif.–based Bigfoot raised a $35.5 million Series A round led by Quadrant Capital Advisors that included backing from Cormorant Asset Management, Senvest Capital and Visionnaire Ventures. Bigfoot said at the time that it plans to use the proceeds to fund the final development of the Smartloop system.
The company initiated its 1st clinical trial last January and has since completed the trial, which included both adult and pediatric participants, and is hopeful that it will begin a pivotal trial of its devices later this year at multiple clinical sites in the US.
I’m patiently waiting for this to hit the marke; T1 for 58 years!
Thank you!
Thanks for the comment, Gayle. Hope you don’t have to wait much longer!
but what about the advancements in this? worth looking at, it is being investigated by the same people that are investing in this product. hope for us T1 diabetics is coming, one way or another. there is hope.
http://thejdca.org/practical-cure-project-update-bcg
Hats off to you, Gayle.
Waiting impatiently.
Mum of a 10-year-old T1
How do i get to be in the trial?
This will be great. I am 67 years old and am fighting the battle of diabetes. I would love to trial test something like this. I worked in the Medical field for 39 years and was always studying how to beat this terrible disease.
Ronnie McBride
I wish all success. I hope for biological approach to protect islet insulin producing cells for implant or infusion of cells to restore natural function of glucose metabolism. May God help us.
T1D for 70 years. Why not a cure instead of costing us more and more to live. We are the support of these drug and device companies. Thank you for this article. I do a diabetic newsletter for a T1D optimist club. Our next speaker is building his own device.
Thanks for the insights, Pat. I think it really says something about the motivation of the diabetes community that there’s so much do-it-yourself activity going on with devices, including when it comes to an artificial pancreas. Who do you have speaking?
You forgetting a big player in the Netherlands.
https://inredadiabetic.nl
Thanks for pointing out, Frank!