First Verily, DexCom Product Launch Slated for 2018
DexCom CEO Kevin Sayer reports that the company is “very, very much on schedule” with long-term goals for growth in the advanced diabetes management market, and will continue to invest in its product innovation partnership with Verily. That partnership’s first product launch is slated for 2018, to be followed by the projected 2021 launch of a next-generation, disposable CGM system.
Last month, Sayer told investors at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM) that DexCom’s 2015 revenue of $400 million had increased tenfold in the past five years. In a recent earnings call, Sayer confirmed that the company’s profits were up 55 percent compared to a comparable period in 2014.
Following a sooner-than-expected FDA approval, DexCom launched the G5 Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System a mere five months after the launch of the G4. In comparison to the G4, the G5 is fully mobile and can communicate with iOS-enabled devices without an additional receiver.
“Because connectivity is such a major advance, we made the decision to launch this new platform on a worldwide basis unlike prior generations, which were initially launched either in the U.S. or selected European geographies,” said Sayer in the earnings call, adding that the company also offered free G5 upgrades to patients who had purchased the G4 prior to the G5 launch. “The ramp of this launch has been much steeper than any platform change we have attempted and has really stretched our organization.”
Though the G5 has been well-received and has brought in a “record number” of new patients, Sayer remarked that not all smart devices were created equal and a majority of tech support calls involved issues with the platform’s interaction with various mobile devices. According to Sayer, DexCom continues to identify key enhancements to the G5 experience and will be implementing them in the near future.
Right now, the G5 system is only compatible with Apple devices. Steven Pacelli, DexCom’s executive VP of strategy and corporate development, said that a 2016 rollout of the G5 system for Android is “certainly plausible,” but it would depend on how long FDA takes to review the system’s application.
Sayer added that an application for G6 technology could be in front of U.S. regulators as early as May.
Key to DexCom’s pipeline moving forward is the company’s partnership with Verily, a collaboration laying the groundwork for DexCom’s long-term goals. “We are making some strategic investments to position this company long term,” said Sayer at the JPM conference. “We are investing in our partnership with Verily to really change the face of CGM over time.”
DexCom’s CGM endgame, according to Sayer, is a miniaturized, disposable CGM that incorporates battery, processor, and a Bluetooth Radio — a feat the CEO claims is possible in 5 years. “This is where CGM is headed, folks,” said Sayer. “Something the size of a penny that will sit on your body and be disposable. That’s our goal.”
Sayer projected that investors would start to see dividends from the DexCom/Verily partnership in 2018, with the launch of their first collaborative product. Additional strategic investments include a new European headquarters in Edinburgh to expand DexCom’s European foothold, and a new sensor manufacturing facility in Arizona.