Abbott has participated in diabetes startup Bigfoot Biomedical’s series B round. The involvement of Abbott and other investors means Bigfoot has $55 million to take its insulin pump and pen through clinical development and onto the market.
Milpitas, Calif.-based Bigfoot pulled in the first $37 million of the series B last year. Now, Abbott, a first-time investor in Bigfoot, and undisclosed new and existing backers have made another $18 million available for the final close of the round.
Bigfoot will use the money to fund development and commercialization of its two Class III diabetes devices, Bigfoot Loop and Bigfoot Inject. Bigfoot Loop is a closed-loop insulin delivery system that uses data from an Abbott glucose monitor to inform dosing via an infusion pump. Bigfoot Inject is a connected insulin pen.
Abbott’s involvement in the series B comes eight months after it began working with Bigfoot. The R&D collaboration established Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre as the glucose-sensing technology of choice for Bigfoot’s experimental automated insulin dosing device. Bigfoot originally trialed its device in combination with Dexcom’s G5 but switched to FreeStyle Libre to free users from the need to perform finger pricks to calibrate the system.
Dexcom has since won approval for the factory-calibrated G6 but Bigfoot has already hitched its future to Abbott. The investment further tightens the ties between the two companies.
“Abbott’s inclusion in our financing speaks to our two companies’ alignment of vision for changing the paradigm of care for people with insulin-requiring diabetes,” Bigfoot CEO Jeffrey Brewer said in a statement.