Bigfoot Biomedical, Inc. is a medical technology startup headquartered in California. The company was founded by parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D): Jeffrey Brewer, Bryan Mazlish, and Lane Desborough.
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History
The company’s start may be traced back to 2011, when quantitative trader Bryan Mazlish’s son received his diagnosis of T1D. He developed a control algorithm to drive an automated and cloud-connected, closed-loop, artificial pancreas device for his wife and son, who have been using the closed-loop automation of insulin delivery since 2013. The existence of this “homebrew artificial pancreas” was kept from the press and the subject of rumor, earning Mazlish the nickname Bigfoot from author Dan Hurley in a piece for Wired Magazine in 2014.
In late 2014, Mazlish joined with Brewer and Desborough to form Bigfoot Biomedical in order to scale and commercialize the technology, calling the company Bigfoot Biomedical.
In May 2015, Bigfoot acquired all the assets of Asante Solutions, former manufacturer of the Snap insulin pump. Later that month, Bigfoot announced its partnership with Dexcom in June 2015, securing the technology needed for the continuous glucose monitoring component of the system.
System Components
The Bigfoot automated insulin delivery system will combine an insulin pump programmed with a proprietary control algorithm, a continuous glucose monitoring sensor and transmitter, and a commercial off-the-shelf smartphone. It will also integrate data generated from a Bluetooth connected blood glucose meter.
Development Timeline
Bigfoot Biomedical’s first clinical trial enrolled its first patients in 2016 with the hope of launching their automated insulin delivery system in 2018.