‘Closest To What The Pancreas Would Actually Do’: Medtronic Diabetes Execs On Marketing Plans For MiniMed 780G
Discuss Plans For MiniMed 780G, One-StopShopping For Diabetes Tech
Executive Summary
In this third Exec Chat with leaders at major diabetes companies that presented at ADA’s Scientific Sessions 2023, Medtech Insight interviewed Medtronic diabetes business leaders Ali Dianaty and Jennifer McVean about the company’s marketing strategy for the recently launched MiniMed 780G with meal detection technology, plans for the Simplera disposable CGM, outlook on the consumer market, and more.
Medtronic plc’s recently announced Medicare and Medicare Advantage coverage for its next-generation MiniMed 780G insulin pump marks another milestone on the road to reviving its diabetes business.
In an interview at the American Diabetes Association’s annual conference, two Medtronic diabetes executives were optimistic about prospects for the company’s next-generation MiniMed 780G insulin pump. After years of delay, the pump was finally approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in April for people with type 1 diabetes over the age of 7. (Also see "Minute Insight: Medtronic Received Medicare Coverage For New MiniMed 780G Insulin Pump" - Medtech Insight, 11 Jul, 2023.)
It was the same sentiment expressed by Medtronic’s management team in a meeting with investors at the event.
“780G is a very important step in the turnaround of the US business,” said Que Dallara, president of Medtronic’s Diabetes business. “It’s going to take us some time to rebuild our install base. We have had attrition in prior years, of course. Europe, outside the US, is doing really well, but it’s going to take time for us to make patients and HCPs aware of the system, what it does, the benefits, and then rebuild our install base.” (Also see "Talking ATTD, 780G, Rumors And Missteps With Medtronic’s Diabetes Leaders" - Medtech Insight, 8 Mar, 2023.)
Ali Dianaty, senior vice president of product innovation and operations at Medtronic Diabetes, and Jennifer McVean, senior medical affairs director at Medtronic Diabetes, pointed Medtech Insight to the positive clinical and real-world data supporting the MiniMed 780G system paired with the Guardian 4 continuous glucose monitor (CGM). They highlighted new features such as meal detection technology that automatically adjusts and corrects sugar levels every five minutes. (Also see "Medtronic’s 780G – Finally! – Gets FDA Approval" - Medtech Insight, 25 Apr, 2023.)
“The MiniMed 780G is really quite revolutionary,” McVean said. “Because of its ability to target 100 mg/dL [milligrams per deciliter] and autocorrect every five minutes, it can really tackle hyperglycemia.”
Medtronic Diabetes
Available in Europe since 2020, the system features the lowest glucose target setting in any automated insulin pump on the market.
One analysis, presented by McVean at the ADA conference, homed in on the impact of the 780G on more than 3,500 children under the age of 15 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The data, which was uploaded from August 2020 to September 2022, showed “overall the children did quite well [in terms of time in range], but they did even better with the recommended settings,” McVean said.
The results showed the 780G helped children in Europe, the Middle and Africa achieve average time spent within a healthy glucose range of 73.9% for all users regardless of settings and climbed to 78.9% when children used the system’s recommended settings. Similarly, children in Latin America achieved a higher average time in range when they used the recommended settings – 78.2% versus 74.2% regardless of settings, the analysis showed.
“What this is telling us is as we increase the amount of automation with the system, the patients do better,” McVean said. “Less for the patient to do, more for the system to do, and the system is doing that in the background. The patient doesn't have to worry about that.”
Another study presented at the ADA, by diabetologist Goran Petrovski from Sidra Medicine at Weil Cornell, focused on adolescents who also used the pre-settings in the 780G versus entering a precise number of carbohydrates for their meals. The results showed that the simplified carb entry helped participants maintain international targets for glycemic control – time in range of 72.7% – and reduced time above 250 mg/dL from 28.3% to 5.3% at six months. (Also see "Medtronic MiniMed 780G Data Shows Simplified Meal Management Helps Users With Glycemic Target" - Medtech Insight, 23 Jun, 2023.)
Medtronic’s Ali Dianaty said #ADA2023 focus is on creating awareness, present data on new MiniMed 780G rolled out to early adopters May. Target MDI, people on competitive systems, MiniMed users up for renewal. #diabetes #type2diabetes #medtech pic.twitter.com/l2ZoXjZpFa
— Marion Webb (@medtechMarion) June 24, 2023
Our interview with Dianaty and McVean, lightly edited below for content and length, covers new features of the 780G and what these improvements mean for patients and physicians, marketing strategy for the newly launched system, and other products on the horizon.
If the glucose is elevated as often as every five minutes, it can give an auto correction to bring the patient back down. That's important, because every time, before someone with diabetes eats, they have to bolus, they have to enter their carbs. People can be inaccurate. If someone has forgotten to enter in their carbs or not entered in enough, then the system will see that rise in glucose and it will kick in those auto corrections to bring them back down. So really, the 780G is quite revolutionary in combating hyperglycemia. In the US, unfortunately, the minority of people living with type 1 diabetes are achieving the less than 7% hemoglobin A1C and the over 70% time in range. The reason for that is too many highs, and if there are too many high blood sugars, there are acute complications like diabetic ketoacidosis. It also impacts the developing brain in children and adolescents and there are also long- term complications, eye disease, kidney disease, heart disease. The metabolic goals are met more frequently in Europe.
[Medtronic said its Guardian 4 sensor will be replaced by the Simplera CGM, although the timeline for the integration with the MiniMed 780 system is still to be determined and Dallara told investors that Simplera will also be combined with the InPen, both pending regulatory clearance of Simplera.]
The combination of those things will fit that coverage very well.
McVean: We are going to have a whole host of options and patients can choose a tubed device and if they decide they want to go to a patch pump, they can choose that. And all of their data and their settings will seamlessly transfer. Additionally, we have smart insulin pens. Same thing there. People with type 1 diabetes have different times in their lives where they want different things to manage their diabetes.