23andMe Appoints “e-Patient Davide” to the Newly Created Position of Chief Patient Officer

I just received the following press release via email.

23andMe Appoints "e-Patient Davide" to the Newly Created Position of Chief Patient Officer

Appointment is a First for the Silicon Valley Pharmaceutical Company

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., – April 1 2015 – 23andMe today announced the appointment of Davide deBellagio, also known as “e-Patient Davide,” to the newly created position of Chief Patient Officer.

e-Patient Davide & Unidentified Executive

“The appointment of a Chief Patient Officer at 23andMe, the first for a Silicon Valley pharmaceutical company, shows our commitment to go further than mainstream pharma¹ in meeting the needs of patients and our investors,” said Steve Woz, an unspecified 23andMe executive. “Interactions with patients are a source of strength -- and wealth -- for the company and e-Patient Davide’s appointment will help ensure the patient perspective advances our profits and our approach to meeting the unmet needs of our investors, which include Roche and Johnson & Johnson.”

e-Patient Davide -- a pre-Alzheimer’s survivor -- is an international keynote speaker on healthcare who consistently earns extraordinary fees from consulting with various healthcare organizations.

“I am incredibly honored to be 23andMe's first Chief Patient Officer, or as I like to call it, Chief Patient Kibitzer,” said e-Patient Davide. “The Internet has altered the balance of power in healthcare. Patients are managing their own health and, in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry, making some money to boot.”

According to e-Patient Davide, his responsibility will be to further elevate the perspective of the patient within 23andMe by “kibitzing,” which is Yiddish for offering unwanted advice or commentary. There’s no better way for a patient to impact the future healthcare offerings of a pharmaceutical company than by “budding in” to ensure the unique priorities and needs of patients and caregivers are “top of mind” for senior executives. According to unnamed sources, 23andMe executives must subject themselves to daily “kibitzing sessions” delivered by e-Patient Davide as he roams the halls of the company and barges unannounced into executive suites.

“Hopefully, my unwanted input will not go unnoticed,” said e-Patient Davide as he posed for a photo op with Wojcicki outside 23andMe’s Mountain View headquarters.

Read more »

Look Ma! No Bong! Afrezza Inhaled Insulin Device is a Cool Gadget

UPDATE (1/5/2016): Sanofi terminated its license agreement related to the development and commercialisation of MannKind's inhaled insulin therapy Afrezza, MannKind said today (here). MannKind noted that the deal will be terminated no later than six months from the effective date of Sanofi's notice or July 4. MannKind added that it "is reviewing its strategic options for Afrezza as a result of the termination."

In the post below I noted the exuberance of the diabetes community for this device and I gave Sanofi kudos for engaging this community via social media. I guess not even the best efforts to mobilize patients via social media in support of a product is guaranteed to be successful.

Also, Sanofi attributed the lower-than-expected sales of Afrezza to the FDA's requirement that patients undergo lung tests before starting treatment and while using the therapy as well as the broader need to raise awareness about the product (see "Sales of Afrezza Inhaled Insulin Stymied by FDA Says Sanofi").

 ------------ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS--------------

Sanofi and MannKind Corporation announced today that Afrezza® (insulin human) Inhalation Powder, the only inhaled insulin, is now available by prescription in U.S. retail pharmacies nationwide. Afrezza is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to control high blood sugar in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Afrezza is a drug–device combination product that consists of a dry formulation of human insulin delivered from a small and portable inhaler to help patients achieve blood sugar control. Afrezza is rapidly absorbed and has a short duration of action. It is administered at the beginning of a meal.

This is a vast improvement over the Exubera "Bong" that Pfizer attempted to launch back in 2007. In June of that year, Amy Tenderich, author behind award-winning blog Diabetes Mine, wrote:

"Because for any PWD [person with diabetes] with an actual social life, Exubera inhaled insulin is looking like a bomb. As I told the reps at the ADA conference frankly, the science behind it IS revolutionary, and we PWDs are grateful for strides in alternative insulin delivery, of course! But the Exubera Inhaler Device really is as bad as it looks in pictures. Worse, because the bulky 'white' plastic portions are not white at all, but that hospital-grade biege that reminds you of walkers and bedpans. An aesthetic nightmare, in the age of cool gadgetry" (see "Are you happy to see me, or is that just your Exubera Bong?").

The Afrezza device is definitely a cool bit of gadgetry! This may be the first time that a drug/device was designed based on fostering relations with patients via social media, something that Pfizer may have learned too late. How so?

Read more »