Once Weekly

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Anchor lead: People with diabetes may soon be able to inject insulin just once a week, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Many people with diabetes must use the drug insulin, which may require them to inject themselves daily or even several times a day to keep their blood sugar controlled. Now a new study demonstrates that a once a week formulation is safe and effective. Rita Kalyani, a diabetes expert at Johns Hopkins, explains the study.

Kalyani: It compared insulin glargine, which is the most prescribed basal insulin in the United States to a new insulin that was being studied in a phase two trial called insulin icodec. What makes is so exciting is that it’s given once weekly. We currently don’t have any insulins on the market that are given once weekly. We have some non-insulin injections that are given once weekly, and what we’ve seen is that there’s increased adherence. Patients like taking fewer injections, they like the flexibility.   :30

Cost of the once weekly insulin is yet to be revealed, Kalyani says, but notes that as with almost all new medications it is likely to be more expensive than alternative formulations. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.