Mar 26, 2002
Terumo expands its business in the field of diabetes.
Japanese distributorship of an insulin pump
acquired from Swiss Disetronic Group.
We are pleased to inform you that Terumo Corporation (head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; president: Takashi Wachi) has recently contracted to acquire exclusive distributorship in Japan of a portable insulin pump for treatment of diabetes from Disetronic Medical Systems Ltd., a Swiss manufacturer of medical instruments.
This insulin pump is a portable device used in the treatment of diabetes for continuous infusion of insulin that lowers the blood sugar level in the body. The insulin pump under our contract sold by Disetronic holds the second-largest share in the world and its technology has already established high credibility. We are planning to launch it on the market this summer after the necessary procedures are completed such as application for approval under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law.
Although it is a common method for diabetes patients to give themselves an injection several times a day and about 700,000 people are undergoing this treatment in Japan, considerable attention has lately been given to the continuous hypodermic insulin infusion method in which patients remain subcutaneously catheterized so that insulin can be continuously infused with the help of a portable pump. Since this method allows patients to maintain a stable blood sugar level, it is highly effective for the prevention of complications, which is the main objective of diabetic treatments. Moreover, as this method can relieve pain by freeing patients from having to prick themselves with a needle every time, it has been spreading widely in Western countries as a treatment to improve the quality of life of patients.
In Japan, the method has not yet been widely acknowledged and only about 2,000 patients have adopted it, but further dissemination is expected in the future through the launch of fast acting insulin suited for treatment with a pump and revision of the health insurance points system (2000).
In the field of diabetes, Terumo has been developing various products and services to realize more optimal diabetic treatments for this growing market, such as blood sugar level measuring instruments, insulin syringes, and a data management system using the Internet for cooperation between patients and doctors. Starting with this tie-up, we will expand our product pipelines even further with the aim of achieving sales of \10 billion in this field in 2004, to make this field one of the mainstays of our business.
(Reference)DISETRONIC GROUP
| Representative |
Thomas Meyer |
| Head office |
Burgdorf, Switzerland |
| Established |
1984 |
| Business fields |
Manufacture and sales of medical instruments |
Annual sales
(April 2000 to March 2001) |
SFr 302.7 million |
