Abbott Laboratories reported fourth quarter sales below expectations before the market opened on Jan. 22, sending the stock down nearly 12% from the prior day's closing. The biggest hits came from contraction in the nutrition group along with continued disruption in the diagnostics unit from volume-based procurement in China. Medical devices suffered from market share loss in electrophysiology and slower than expected uptake of continuous glucose monitors. The pharma group performed as anticipated, posting 7% growth.
Investors poured a further $13 million into Vicentra BV for Kaleido, its insulin patch pump system, taking the total raised in the company’s series D financing round to $98 million. The funds come amid significant changes across diabetes technology, particularly the acceleration of patch pumps. Kaleido is one of the smallest, lightest, and most precise insulin patch pumps available.
Over the last year, diabetes technology saw significant changes, including the acceleration of patch pumps, ever-smaller continuous glucose monitors (CGM), implanted CGMs and increased interest in devices that measure additional chemicals in blood without needles.
The first international consensus framework for the use of continuous ketone monitoring in people with diabetes, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, calls development and use of ketone sensors for the prevention of diabetic ketoacidosis “transformational.” Several companies in the diabetes technology market have recently reported that they are developing dual glucose-ketone sensors, though none have gained U.S. FDA approval yet.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists clearly help patients shed pounds, but many regain all - or more - of the weight once they discontinue the medications. Fractyl Health Inc. could offer an enduring solution with its Revita procedure. Six-month results from its open-label REVEAL-1 cohort of individuals with obesity who lost 15% or more of their total body weight on a GLP-1 therapy maintained that loss after discontinuing the drugs and undergoing the Revita procedure.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has posted the home health final rule for calendar year 2026 and has established a framework for competitive bidding for products such as continuous glucose monitors, a move that is struggling to find support among stakeholders.
The Office of Inspector General issued a report stating that the Medicare program could save “tens of millions of dollars” in a single year on continuous glucose monitors and associated supplies if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services acted to apply price pressure on suppliers.
Kakao Healthcare Corp. plans to secure ₩100 billion (US$68 million) through two investment deals with Cha Biomedical Group and outside investors by early next year. The transactions, expected to close by the first quarter of 2026, will make Cha the controlling shareholder of Kakao Healthcare with a 43.08% stake. Kakao Corp., the parent company, will hold 29.99%, and external investors will own 26.93%.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ended the Treatment Choices model under the end stage renal disease payment payment system for several reasons, including its failure to deliver meaningful savings.
Dexcom Inc. received U.S. FDA clearance for its Smart Basal CGM-integrated basal insulin dosing optimizer. Designed for adults with type 2 diabetes using glargine U-100 long-acting insulin therapy, Smart Basal uses data from Dexcom’s G7 15 Day sensor with doses logged by the user to personalize recommendations and adjust long-acting insulin doses, with direction from the patient’s health care provider.