When do you anticipate the arrival of a “closed loop” insulin pump on the American market (that is, a device that will have the capability to measure blood sugars and automatically deliver the appropriate dose of insulin)?

I was talking just this morning with our Disetronic representative. My understanding from him is that this Swiss company has already developed a sensor that they think will work as a closed loop and they have three year’s funding for clinical trials in Europe. Apparently, they do not propose to tackle the US FDA until the trials in Europe are approved. This means at least six years before an instrument would be on the market in the U.S. The North American equivalent, made by MiniMed, is, if anything, a little further away from the closed loop; but is clearly in the running too; and the makers of the GlucoWatch are planning a wireless communication between their sensor and a pump. In the meantime, progressive dissection of immune mechanisms looks as though it may have revived the possibilities for islet cell transplantation and the early results from the group in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada are very promising to the point that I think that they might win out against the closed loop pump.

DOB