Ypsomed Diabetescare received approval from Health Canada for the YpsoPump, in 2019, to become the latest insulin pump company to hit the market in Canada. It is currently covered by Tier 1 BC Pharmacare, Ontario’s ADP, and the Manitoba Pediatric Insulin Pump Program (with more provinces expected to follow suit). We connected with the team at Ypsomed to learn more about the company, the new pump, and what Canadians have to look forward to.
Disclaimer: Please check out CIM’s Partners Page to learn more about the companies we work with. This post was delivered as part of an annual sponsorship package with our partner, but our partners do not review the content before publication and we strive to bring accurate and helpful information to the T1D online community. We still thought this info was important for you to know about.
YpsoPump Primer
To learn more about the YpsoPump you can visit the Ypsomed DiabetesCare Page. Below are a few things we thought you might want to know:
- Discreet: Currently, Ypsomed is one of the smallest and lightest insulin pumps on the market with dimensions of 7.8 × 4.6 × 1.6 cm and weighing only 83 grams (including battery and filled cartridge)
- Ease of Use: One of the goals of Ypsomed is to make a pump that is incredibly easy to learn and use.
- Cartridge Size: Can hold up to 160 units of Novorapid, Humalog, Fiasp, or Apidra insulin. Because the cartridge is made of glass, it can be pre-filled and stored in the fridge for 30 days, for easy and convenient cartridge changes.
- Water protection (IPX8): Can withstand immersion to a depth of 1 m for up to 60 minutes
- Battery: Requires a AAA alkaline battery. The expected battery life is 30 days.
- Intuitive Touchscreen: This touchscreen pump uses icons to allow it to be language independent and was built on a flexible platform that can allow for further development of its software over time.
- Infusion Set Choices: Choose between the YpsoPump Orbit or the YpsoPump Inset infusion sets. The YpsoPump Orbit features a tubing attachment that rotates 360 degrees, for easy and highly flexible site selection and more freedom of movement. The YpsoPump Inset has an integrated inserter and active needle safety system – for your safety. Both options have different tubing and cannula lengths.
- CGM Integration: There is currently no CGM integration, but Ypsomed entered a partnership with Dexcom at the end of 2020. Plans are in place to integrate the Dexcom G6 CGM system with the Ypsomed Diabetescare system. This is the first step in their Ypsomed Loop Program.
- App Integration: The Ypsomed App can be downloaded directly onto Android and iOS devices and is used to view pump data and share data with your healthcare team. Although you cannot bolus from the app yet, it is an expected feature in the near future as part of the Ypsomed Loop Program.
Background on Ypsomed and its journey to Canada
Ypsomed, as a company, tries to make life better and less intrusive for people who live with Type 1 diabetes. The company prides itself on being patient-centric and customer-focused.
Ypsomed’s history goes back to 1984 and is headquartered in Switzerland. In fact, if you’ve been in the diabetes space for long enough, you may already know a little bit about the company. In 2003, Disetronic sold its insulin pump (infusion) business to Roche and renamed its injection arm of the company Ypsomed. The company continued to pioneer products in the infusion space including work on the Sanofi Solotar pen and the disposable SymlinPen. In 2010, Ypsomed began working in the pump space, once again, as the distributor for Omnipod in Europe. The company continued to work on developing infusion sets (the Orbit system) and insulin pens and launched the YpsoPump in 2016 in Europe.
In 2019, Ypsomed received approval from Health Canada. Ypsomed operates its Canadian headquarters out of Montreal, Quebec.
Today, Ypsomed is selling its pumps in 22 countries, an estimated 20,000 users and growing!. Although we weren’t able to get too much information on the roadmap for Ypsomed in Canada, Ypsomed has announced its partnership with Dexcom in late 2020. This is an important first step towards the Ypsomed Loop Program – something we’ll definitely be keeping our eye on.
What makes Ypsomed Unique?
As a company, Ypsomed is trying hard to put people with diabetes first. When we heard that, of course, we wanted to learn more! We wanted to see what they were doing to ensure that community needs were being met through their products. Ypsomed told us that the basics of their pump design as well as their company culture has been built out of countless experiences, interviews, and conversations with members of the community. They weren’t wanting to come into the space to build another version of something that already existed. They wanted to position themselves to answer the needs of the community in ways that made sense for the community.
Over the years, they heard three things resonate most loudly from the community: Create something discreet, build something easy to use, and keep it small. So they set to work.
With all of that research done, responses compiled, and prototypes made, we wanted to know how it all came together and what makes the YpsoPump so special. So we asked!
One of the interesting points we learned about was that the pump was built to be easy to use not just for the benefit of the people living with Type 1 diabetes, but for the healthcare system too. The pump was built to be as easy as possible to learn, use, and understand for healthcare providers with the goal of decreasing the burden on the healthcare system and giving more time to people with Type 1 diabetes to spend… NOT in the doctor’s office.
Although the YpsoPump does not currently integrate with a CGM device, their roadmap includes integration with the Dexcom CGM. They are working diligently on new submissions to Health Canada for their future technologies.
So, what’s next?
Well, if you’re an insulin pump user in Canada, the YpsoPump is ready to ship! If you have private insurance that will cover an insulin pump, Ypsomed has a team ready to assist you with your insurance verification. You can get in touch to schedule a demo, or talk to a representative about the next steps by visiting their website or calling 1-833-695-5959.
If you’re living in BC, Ontario or Manitoba and qualify for the provincial insulin pump program in your area, YpsoPump is already an option for you.
