Medtronic Spins Off Diabetes Division Into New Company

Medtronic is officially cutting the cord—on itself. The company just announced it’s spinning off its massive diabetes business, a $2.8 billion division with 8,000 employees, into a brand new, standalone company.

If you live with diabetes or follow diabetes tech like I do, this is big news. Medtronic has long been one of the most well-known players in insulin pump technology—and now it’s setting its diabetes arm free. In 2001, Medtronic brought the diabetes company known as MiniMed under its hood and now it seems that diabetes division has outgrown its parent company.

The new company will be led by Que Dallara, who’s been running Medtronic Diabetes for the few couple years, and will be based in Northridge, California. According to Medtronic, the goal is to give the diabetes business more room to focus, innovate, and invest in the tech that people with diabetes actually use every day.

But let’s be real: Medtronic’s track record has been a bit mixed. While the launch of the MiniMed 780G and steady growth of its smart pen portfolio are solid wins, its lagged behind when it comes to CGM innovation. Most recently, the company announced a slower-than-ideal rollout of its newly FDA-cleared Simplera Sync CGM—which connects to the 780G pump—citing manufacturing constraints. Medtronic is working on an exciting new CGM partnership with Abbott that could bring major improvements down the line.

Medtronic also has an exciting pipeline of diabetes tech in the works. The company revealed plans for two next-gen insulin pumps: the 8-Series, a sleek upgrade to its traditional tubed system, and a tubeless pump designed to last up to seven days—potentially the longest wear time of any tubeless pump. You can dive deeper into what’s coming in our full breakdown of Medtronic’s new pump lineup, or check out the video below for everything you need to know.

So what does this mean for us—the people living with diabetes? Could this new structure give the company the freedom to move faster? Will it finally mean more patient-centered design, less red tape, and more competition with Dexcom, Tandem, and Insulet? Could this be the change we've been hoping for? Or will it just be a new logo on the same old problems? Only time will tell.

Let us know what you think in the comments and stay tuned for updates on the future of Medtronic and the latest in diabetes tech by following along on TikTok, Instagram, Youtube, and the podcast.

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