Ellen
06-28-2010, 05:33 PM
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-25/novo-s-degludec-insulin-as-effective-as-lantus-with-fewer-doses.html
Novo?s Degludec Insulin as Effective as Lantus With Fewer Doses
June 25, 2010, 6:34 PM EDT
By Frances Schwartzkopff
June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Novo Nordisk A/S?s experimental insulin degludec, taken three times a week to treat diabetes, was as effective as Sanofi-Aventis SA?s once-daily Lantus in a mid-stage clinical trial.
Degludec lowered blood sugar levels as much as Lantus, Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based Novo said in a statement today at the American Diabetes Association meeting in Orlando, Florida. About one in four patients, or 23 percent, reported episodes of too low blood sugar, similar to Lantus, Novo said, citing the study by researchers including Bernard Zinman of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. That condition, called hypoglycemia, can cause confusion, fainting and death.
The convenience of taking degludec three times a week will win over diabetics, said Alan Moses, Novo?s chief medical officer. Sanofi?s product leads the market, with sales last year of 3.08 billion euros ($3.8 billion). The combined revenue from Novo?s engineered insulins, Levemir, NovoRapid and NovoMix, was 21.5 billion kroner ($3.55 billion) in 2009.
?What we hear from patients is that they?re craving anything that will lower the frequency of their injections,? Moses said in a telephone interview.
Taken daily, degludec was less effective than Lantus, Novo said. Fewer than one in 10 had confirmed hypoglycemic episodes.
In patients taking degludec three times a week in the 16- week trial, the percentage of red blood cells to which sugar had attached, a measure of the illness? severity, fell by 1.5 points, Novo Nordisk said. The same decline was reported for patients on Lantus, the Danish drugmaker said. Taken daily, degludec reduced blood sugar levels by 1.3 percentage points.
Daily Shots
Some diabetics must take as many as four shots a day: a so- called basal insulin, which maintains a steady level of the hormone throughout the day, and three shots to coincide with mealtimes. Diabetics don?t produce enough insulin to absorb the sugar into which food is broken down. It collects in the blood and may cause kidney failure, heart problems and blindness.
Novo Nordisk last year began the final phase of testing degludec and a second experimental insulin, degludec plus, after initial results were positive. The trials, in which about 10,000 people are participating, are the largest ever for the Danish drugmaker, whose growth has been driven by engineered insulins.
Another experimental insulin, which combines degludec with a mealtime insulin, lowered the majority of diabetics? blood sugar to recommended levels as effectively as Lantus without major episodes of hypoglycemia, Novo said. One-hundred and nineteen people participated in the 16-week, early-phase trial.
--With assistance from Elizabeth Lopatto in New York. Editor: Phil Serafino, Marthe Fourcade
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Frances Schwartzkopff in Copenhagen at fschwartzko1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net
Novo?s Degludec Insulin as Effective as Lantus With Fewer Doses
June 25, 2010, 6:34 PM EDT
By Frances Schwartzkopff
June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Novo Nordisk A/S?s experimental insulin degludec, taken three times a week to treat diabetes, was as effective as Sanofi-Aventis SA?s once-daily Lantus in a mid-stage clinical trial.
Degludec lowered blood sugar levels as much as Lantus, Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based Novo said in a statement today at the American Diabetes Association meeting in Orlando, Florida. About one in four patients, or 23 percent, reported episodes of too low blood sugar, similar to Lantus, Novo said, citing the study by researchers including Bernard Zinman of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. That condition, called hypoglycemia, can cause confusion, fainting and death.
The convenience of taking degludec three times a week will win over diabetics, said Alan Moses, Novo?s chief medical officer. Sanofi?s product leads the market, with sales last year of 3.08 billion euros ($3.8 billion). The combined revenue from Novo?s engineered insulins, Levemir, NovoRapid and NovoMix, was 21.5 billion kroner ($3.55 billion) in 2009.
?What we hear from patients is that they?re craving anything that will lower the frequency of their injections,? Moses said in a telephone interview.
Taken daily, degludec was less effective than Lantus, Novo said. Fewer than one in 10 had confirmed hypoglycemic episodes.
In patients taking degludec three times a week in the 16- week trial, the percentage of red blood cells to which sugar had attached, a measure of the illness? severity, fell by 1.5 points, Novo Nordisk said. The same decline was reported for patients on Lantus, the Danish drugmaker said. Taken daily, degludec reduced blood sugar levels by 1.3 percentage points.
Daily Shots
Some diabetics must take as many as four shots a day: a so- called basal insulin, which maintains a steady level of the hormone throughout the day, and three shots to coincide with mealtimes. Diabetics don?t produce enough insulin to absorb the sugar into which food is broken down. It collects in the blood and may cause kidney failure, heart problems and blindness.
Novo Nordisk last year began the final phase of testing degludec and a second experimental insulin, degludec plus, after initial results were positive. The trials, in which about 10,000 people are participating, are the largest ever for the Danish drugmaker, whose growth has been driven by engineered insulins.
Another experimental insulin, which combines degludec with a mealtime insulin, lowered the majority of diabetics? blood sugar to recommended levels as effectively as Lantus without major episodes of hypoglycemia, Novo said. One-hundred and nineteen people participated in the 16-week, early-phase trial.
--With assistance from Elizabeth Lopatto in New York. Editor: Phil Serafino, Marthe Fourcade
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Frances Schwartzkopff in Copenhagen at fschwartzko1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net