Since this was announced this week, and so many of you emailed me, I might as well make it official: this week, I joined the Board of Directors of MicroIslet (MIIS).
I have for quite some time liked their bio-technology — an area that is far, far afield from whatever expertise I have. My own lack of medical expertise notwithstanding, their approach to managing diabetes seems to me to have lots of potential promise to resolve some of the problems that Diabetics encounter.
Diabetes has run in my family (skipping a generation), has a genetic component, and hence, my interest in this space.
My prior issue with the company was never their technology — it was the lack of communication by management. When the stock ran into trouble in late 2006, there was almost no public response from the company about it. The shares slid from $2.15 to pennies with not much said. I had previously recommended the stock, with a $1 stop loss (Its now 61 cents).
Over time, I had been in contact with some of the larger shareholders, many of whom also "noticed" the lack of communication from (the former) management. I made a few suggestions as to what they should have done, what they should do in the future, in terms of investor relations, etc.
When the new regime came in, we spoke, discussed the firm’s needs, I made some suggestions as to what should be dine differently. Long story short, I an now on the Board.
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NOTE: For obvious reasons, I will not be discussing any of the particulars of the company going forward. I am writing this now because I do not yet have any non public material inside information. This will very likely be my one and only post on MicroIslet.
Suffice it to say that this space is quite dynamic: Thanks to our increasingly fat planet, Diabetes has become epidemic world-wide, and whatever company develops a treatment and/or cure stands to make its investors a lot of money . . .
Those of you who are interested should do your homework into the various competitive Diabetes treatment companies, including this one.
Cover thine backside – alterating the human genome is like introducing a pair of mating rabbits to Australia.
Good for you-I have a friend diagnosed with Type 1 at age 35!
This has nothing to do with altering the Human Genome.
MicroIslet microencapsulates porcine islets for injection into the abdominal cavity. These islet cells produce insulin. MicroIslet’s technologies allow this xeno-transplantation, without the usual regimen of auto immune suppressants.
See graphic here
Thanks for the information, Barry. Diabetes is certainly a pestilence, and I wish nothing but the best to anyone involved in finding a practical and safe cure.
Barry,
I’ll be very interested in watching this. One of my son’s has Type 1 and does daily insulin injections. Best of luck.
Insulet (ticker: PODD), came public this year. It’s a very interesting medical device company focused exclusively on continuous insulin delivery. Sam Isaly was a pre-IPO investor. Here’s a link to their website:
http://www.myomnipod.com/
To me, it looks like their solution offers alot of value/utility not found in competitive pumps. As an investor, I like the consistency of the “razor/razorblade” recurring revenue model. They just started selling the device late last year and anticipate a very steep growth ramp. If they don’t stumble during this hypergrowth phase, I doubt they’ll be independent 3 years from now.