Savvy Updates 2/16/26 | The Savvy Diabetic

In this week’s issue of The Savvy Diabetic:

Inside Eversense’s Next-Generation Implantable CGMs in Development
An Implantable Artificial Pancreas Is Coming – How it Works
Oral drug may allow early treatment of diabetic retinopathy
Behind Oregon’s first-in-nation law curbing corporate medicine
Everyone’s living a life you know nothing about. Be kind

Inside Eversense’s Next-Generation Implantable CGMs in Development by Etzel Estrada for Diabetech.info, 29 January 2026.

Senseonics, the company behind the Eversense 365 implantable continuous glucose monitor (CGM), is working on a next-generation CGM platform that could significantly change how implantable sensors are used. This project, called Eversense Gemini, focuses on reducing on-body hardware.

Eversense Gemini is a self-powered, implantable CGM designed to last a full year. Unlike the current system, it includes an internal battery and can store up to eight hours of glucose data directly on the sensor. Users can retrieve the data by scanning their smartphone. Gemini is being developed with three different usage modes. A continuous mode delivers real-time glucose readings every five minutes when the transmitter is worn. A scan-only mode allows users to operate without a transmitter and review stored data as needed. A flex mode would allow users to switch between the two options based on their preferences. Senseonics says feasibility work is ongoing as it evaluates how these modes could fit different lifestyles and use cases.

Beyond Gemini, a future system called “Freedom” could take things further by eliminating the external transmitter altogether. It would integrate Bluetooth Low Energy directly into the sensor, allowing data to be sent to a smartphone or insulin pump every five minutes. This technology could enable fully automated insulin delivery—no scanning and no on-body hardware. Senseonics is currently completing feasibility testing, preparing an IDE submission, and planning clinical trials.

Read more: Inside Eversense’s Next-Generation Implantable CGMs in Development

An Implantable Artificial Pancreas Is Coming – How it Works by Diabetech.Info, 9 February 2026.

Stacy Chambliss, CEO, and Lee Hartley, Chief Technology Expert for Portal Diabetes, discuss how its next-generation implantable pump could bring this technology back—smaller, smarter, and potentially fully closed-loop using CGM data. Because insulin is delivered into the intraperitoneal cavity, it acts faster and clears the body more quickly than subcutaneous insulin, which may result in fewer highs and lows and greater spontaneity. Learn how the pump works, what the surgery and refills look like, and what real users have shared about living with an implantable pump. There is even a live demo.

Read more:

Oral drug may allow early treatment of diabetic retinopathy by Justin Cooper for Healio.com, 13 February 2026.

Some patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy showed reduced vascular leakage or macular exudation after oral treatment with danegaptide, according to a study presented at Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration 2026. Danegaptide (Breye Therapeutics) was well-tolerated in the phase 1b study, paving the way for a phase 2 trial, according to a press release from Breye. The results were presented by Carl D. Regillo, MD, director of the retina service at Wills Eye Hospital and a member of Breye’s scientific advisory board.

“Danegaptide has the potential to be a medicine capable of treating diabetic retinopathy from its earlier [nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy] stages,” Regillo said in the release. “This would create new options for how diabetic retinopathy is treated — opening the door to halting or even reversing disease and treating it before the risk emerges of disease progression to advanced forms.”

Read more: Oral drug may allow early treatment of diabetic retinopathy

Behind Oregon’s first-in-nation law curbing corporate medicine by Tanya Albert Henry for AMA-Assn.org, 9 February 2026.

Amid the rise of health care delivery consolidation, a new state law reshapes how business entities may engage in the practice of medicine.  Oregon lawmakers last year passed a bill to block corporate takeovers of medical practices, a first-of-its-kind in the nation. Physicians have an ethical duty to patients and to public health, while private equity firms and corporations have a fiduciary duty to maximize profit for their shareholders.

“What we tried to do in Oregon … is to be clear that the corporate practice of medicine doctrine means something more, and we expect physicians to be in charge. It doesn’t mean you can’t partner with private equity firms or corporations, but it means at the end of the day, when decisions are being made that impact patients, they have to be made by the physicians,” said Ben Bowman, the majority leader of the Oregon House of Representatives.  Bowman spoke about Oregon’s law at the 2026 AMA State Advocacy Summit, held in California. Maureen Hensley-Quinn, the senior program director for the National Academy for State Health Policy, joined the Oregon lawmaker for a panel discussion, “The New Corporate Practice of Medicine Doctrine.”

The Oregon Medical Association (OMA) has said the law seeks to balance physicians’ interests in caring for patients with corporate interests in investing and improving health care efficiency while turning a profit.  The association notes that the bill:

Sets legal standards for how management services organizations may assist with managing a medical practice.
Redefines the list of business entities that are allowed to engage in the practice of medicine.
Addresses the widespread use of noncompete and other restrictive agreements imposed on physicians and health care professionals.

Read more: Behind Oregon’s first-in-nation law curbing corporate medicine

Everyone’s living a life you know nothing about. Be kind  by Daniel Ducarmel Art, @danielducarmel, 8 February 2026.