http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-25/novo-s-degludec-insulin-as-effective-as-lantus-with-fewer-doses.html
The article states that Degludec is as effective as Lantus when only taken 3 times a week.
Interesting but since I use a pump most of the time and I don’t mind shots when I’m off the pump, I don’t see the advantage.
Funny, this reads just list Novo Nordisk’s own press release from Friday … interesting that the line coming from the company up until this point was that Levemir had a time-activity profile of 18-24 hours, even though clinical results for most patients was half that. Levemir is widely panned on the Cafe Pharma website by the company’s own salespeople, although some people neither want or need 24 hours of basal coverage, and for them, Levemir is pretty good.
From the article it looks to me like Novo is trying to develop a 48 hour basal insulin. To me this seems pointless. With a 48 hour basal insulin taken every other day, the diabetic would not only have to remember to do the basal injection he would also have to remember if he had done one yesterday. It could cause some people to get confused and go without their basal insulin or sometimes take a double dose.
I was just going to comment that it would be hard to remember if you had taken it 1, 2, or 3 days ago. I’d for sure have to write it down on my calendar.
Some days I have trouble remembering if I took my Levemir in the morning or not. I inject so frequently, it all runs together some days. I hated Lantus, because sometimes I would be fine, and other times I would wake up sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor eating. I woke once with my roommates oreo crumbs in my teeth with no recollection of eating anything. I used to call it sleepeating. = ) When I switched to Levemir, it never happened again, so saying it is like Lantus is no draw to me.
It is a modified Levemir. My diabetologists conducted a study with T2 diabetics and I have heard that it showed good results in comparison to Lantus. I would always prefer a 12 hour lifetime because I need the adjustability to prevent lows from physical activity. The claimed 24 hour profile for Lantus - although not often met in reality - worked well for the competitor of Novo. This marketing success seems to be the main driver to develop very long acting basal insulins like Degludec. Anyway, it is good to see more competition here.
I suppose there are some diabetics that would benefit from a very long acting insulin. When I’m not on pump, I’m happy with Levemir and twice daily injection.
I hated Lantus too. Same story as you told! Under Levemir it’s better.