10/21/2025
💫Vdex Diabetes, Business update:
Here's what I can say: after a few years of refinement Vdex is now in a position to engage in more rapid expansion. Like all entrepreneurs we had a learning curve and especially when doing something new, we literally had to figure it out. There was no instruction manual. We had to write that ourselves. We had to make tons of mistakes, blow lots of money and spend more time than we thought to get things right. We're there now. Here's what I've learned from all the struggle. First, the diabetes epidemic is even WORSE than I thought and far worse than most people know, and the current treatment model is GUARANTEED NOT TO FIX IT. With enough clinics Vdex can. Second, Afrezza remains the single greatest treatment ever developed for diabetes, but doctors will not likely adopt Afrezza for many years, if ever. I'm very positive about the drug and yet negative about the chances for the medical community to ever embrace it. Third, Vdex's model will eventually incorporate greater use of Afrezza for the simple reason that it's the best treatment available. Fourth, insurance coverage for Afrezza really hasn't gotten better. It's still an uphill battle and this is exacerbated by a growing antipathy towards the use of insulin in Type 2 patients, 90+% of the market. Fifth, the pharmaceutical industry WILL NOT come up with a solution to diabetes. Perhaps there will be a cure for Type 1 at some point but it's not close, but Type 2 is likely to be an intractable problem for a long long time ahead.
Finally (for now), and this is really related to my first point above, diabetes MUST become a more singular focus of medical care because blood sugar control is foundational ALL HEALTH. I don't care what medical condition a person has, a lack of blood sugar control will make it worse. Heart disease, cancer, dental care, ophthalmic care. You name it. You can't just ignore blood sugar and focus on the other condition. To have good outcomes you need to address both. Fortunately, many others are starting to see that.
I love what we've created at Vdex and I love the challenge ahead of us. It will be my focus for the rest of my life. We will need MASSIVE expansion and we'll need to raise a lot more money. But, we can beat this disease.
I have a hard time sleeping because I'm so energized.
~Bill McCullough/ CEO Vdex Diabetes
