Easier, better for enhanced quality of life

Bob Gonnelli, President and CEO of Valeritas, LLC founded the company with one major goal in mind: to deliver a better quality of life to patients suffering from a variety of diseases and conditions for which patient-friendly therapies were not available. He felt that better technology was critical to meeting that goal. Make it simpler, easier to use and more effective, he reasoned, and success will naturally follow.

h-Patch™ basal bolus insulin delivery system, a case in point In many ways, Valeritas' new h-Patch basal bolus insulin delivery system exemplifies Bob Gonnelli's vision. This device, smaller than a ChapStick™ tube, provides Type 2 diabetes patients with a better way to manage their disease.

Left untreated, Type 2 diabetes causes severe damage to major organs, including the heart, eyes, nervous system, and kidneys. And for treatment to be effective, it must be consistent; blood sugar levels must be maintained as close to normal as possible. In other words, the regimen prescribed for a patient must be followed religiously, often requiring a shift in life style and a change in old habits. There are problems with this. Type 2 diabetes is sometimes called adult-onset diabetes, and that means most patients suffering from it are older adults - a patient population not well disposed to radical changes in routine.

Valeritas evaluated the prevalent therapies for treating Type 2 diabetes - oral medications, injections, electronic catheter-based pump systems - and found that each had built-in reasons for non-compliance. Patients forget to take their pills. They leave home without their insulin. Electronic insulin pumps are complicated; too much like a computer. Or, they skip their injections because of an underlying fear of needles.

Minimal Disruption

Valeritas' technology team set themselves this challenge: develop a device that intrudes on the patient's life as little as possible. In patients with Type 2, what is the minimum intrusion necessary?

The answer: a needle must be introduced subcutaneously and an insulin bolus must be fed into the body through that needle. Does this have to be a major production? Not at all.

The h-Patch system, as easy to apply as a Band-Aid™ bandage, delivers a basal insulin bolus with a tap of the patient's finger. It can be applied anywhere on the body, is virtually painless, and can be safely disposed of with no exposure to sharp needle points. Peel the backing, stick it on, use it, replace it - the h-Patch system helps make managing Type 2 diabetes that much easier.

A matter of economics

The population of Type 2 diabetes patients is projected to grow, and cases treated with insulin alone or in combination with oral medication are increasing as well. Bob Gonnelli and Valeritas are banking that the h-Patch system - effective, unobtrusive, easy to use - will claim a major portion of that market.

The equation holds true

If we examine our opening equation, we find that "Make it simple and people will use it," is solid. People want their lives disrupted as little as possible, and if managing diabetes becomes a simple matter of attaching and touching a small patch, the goal has been achieved.

But getting to "simple" can prove to be a complicated process. The unobtrusive, effective h-Patch system took highly trained and experienced researchers years to develop, and yet the results will bear out our conclusion: The quality of life for Type 2 diabetes patients will improve.

An effective and easy-to-use delivery system can have a positive compliance impact on any disease for which regular administration of measured subcutaneous medication is required. Valeritas' products share a single goal: To improve compliance and provide a better quality of life for the patients who use them. For more information on other Valeritas products, click here.