Overview

There is a global epidemic of diabetes. The estimated 280 million people with diabetes worldwide is expected to grow to 439 million by 2030. For the majority of diabetics their disease is out of control and they will die prematurely and account for up to one third of healthcare costs in many regions of the world. A diagnosis of diabetes after the age of 40 leads to an average decrease in lifespan of 13-14 years as well as deteriorating quality of life. Numerous studies have shown that better glucose control can extend life expectancy and markedly reduce the huge costs of managing diabetes and its complications. See DCCT and EDIC: The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial and Follow-up Study and Cost effectiveness of an intensive blood glucose control policy in patients with type 2 diabetes: economic analysis alongside randomised controlled trial (UKPDS 41). Although injected insulin is the gold standard for treatment and works very well, it is often the last drug to be taken by Type 2 diabetics (see Figure 1) who make up about 90% of all diabetics. The typical patient may delay taking injected insulin for 5-10 years, due to a reluctance or refusal to take the required injections. Delaying insulin treatment or refusing to take multiple daily injections eventually results in miserable health consequences for the patients and enormous costs to health care systems. Over 20 years of research has demonstrated that inhaled insulin is a safe and effective alternative to injections. Inhaled insulin has been shown in ~ 20 studies by Marsha Testa and colleagues at Harvard to be overwhelmingly preferred by diabetics over injections (See Figure 2). Simply put, patients loved it!

Dance is a San Francisco based, global company focused exclusively on creating a line of small, patient friendly, pain-free, low cost insulin inhalers for the world diabetes market. In addition to providing inhaled insulin to those who have become insulin dependent, Dance intends to faciliate introduction of insulin much earlier in the disease process to significantly reduce health care costs and improve the lives of millions of diabetics.

Dance plans to leverage the extensive experience of their team, best in class technology and IP, the large 20 year safety and efficacy database on inhaled insulin, and market savvy, to produce low risk, fast to market products. Dance's low cost proprietary devices and attractive per dose costs will attract both patients and payers worldwide. Our model utilizes low overhead out-sourced operations with a goal to finance the company through a combination of angel, debt and regional partner funding. Dance intends to build a strong brand through partnering with top regional marketers and insulin suppliers around the globe while maintaining control of the core business, which enables better economics for all parties, and the ability to focus and set priorities for each regional market. A conservative market estimation (see website section on market, size and growth) for inhaled insulin shows that capturing 1-2% of the world's diabetics in 8 years could represent an $8B dollar market.

Insulin Used As Last Resort Instead of First Line

Figure 1: The typical course of type 2 diabetes, as measured by the mass of pancreatic insulin producing cells (beta cells), and the time frame for introduction of various treatments. Product 1 and product 2 are Dance's 2 inhaled insulin products with their respective zones of entry.

Patient Preference is Very Strong: Satisfaction After 6 Months on Inhaled or Injected Insulin

Figure 2: Data from published studies