Room temperature stable glucagon injection pen from Xeris very close to reality. How will this affect your diabetes control when it becomes available? I just hope it is affordable, and covered by insurance.
For me, it will be great help to try and attain normal range A1c. I can be agressive with my blood glucose target.
For closed loop system, glucagon pump can be added to the algorithm to raise BG when trending low. I have read a trial already doing this successfully.
I believe the first availability of this shelf-stable glucagon will be packaged as a “rescue dose.” It’s likely to be set to deliver the entire cartridge of glucagon at once. This will be a boon to people operating under the stress of an emergency and will surely enable a higher percentage of successful interventions.
My interest in shelf-stable glucagon will enable delivery of mini-doses to counteract a slowly descending blood glucose (BG) line and nudge it back towards the BG target. It’s like being given brakes in a car you’ve learned to drive with a gas pedal only! I will not miss my long standing glucose tablet habit.
My understanding is that the device that is close to FDA approval is an auto-injector rescue pen. It’s designed similarly to an EpiPen, designed to be easy to use (for example, 1. pull off safety, 2. inject) and to quickly deliver a single dose of glucagon in an emerency situation. For me, this is something I will actually carry around on a daily basis (I don’t with the current glucagon kits) and train friends and family how to use in an emergency. I also hope it’s something that I myself might be able to use in a sitautions where I’m afraid I might pass out or otherwise can’t access carbohydrates.
It will not be a device that’s easy to use for mini-dosing glucagon on a daily basis nor in a pump. However, the same company does have a mini-dose pen that is similar to an insulin pen, where you can dial up various doses of glucagon and use the pen repeatedly. Clinical trials for this mini-dose pen have already taken place in the US and Canada, so hopefully approval will come not too long after the rescue pen. This will be an excellent tool to add to my diabetes arsonal, because I have frequently mild to moderate lows and am trying to lose weight.
The company is also working on a glucagon that can be used in pumps. I believe there is also a second company (can’t recall the name) that is working on glucagon for pumps. This won’t be useful right away, but obviously will be crucial once true closed-loop systems become available. I’m upgrading pumps currently and am hopeful that the next time I upgrade pumps it’ll be to a fully closed-loop system that uses both insulin and glucagon. That will be amazing!
I believe this is the first product Xeris wants to put out in the market first, then followed by the mini dosing glucagon pen, then finally the glucagon vial for pump use.
On Oct 23, 2018, Xeris announced the FDA has accepted for review the New Drug Application (NDA) of Xeris Pharmaceuticals glucagon pen auto-injector (room-temperature stable liquid) for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia with an FDA assigned PDUFA goal date of June 10, 2019.
Xeris has additional variations of stable liquid glucagon in their pipeline in various phases.
I think it’s a great product/“rescue dose” as @Terry4 mentioned. Glucagon is “good” for low levels of sugar in the blood and tissues. I think these low levels are great to prevent diabetes.
Glucagon Injections are a good Temporary way to get your sugar levels up (which you can also do with a chocolate).
How will the glucose deliver itself from the tissues (injection point) to the blood with one shot?
I’d prefer having some food in my intestines to metabloise glucose rather than taking a shot (foods without low sugar levels like: fruit, whole bread, whole rice, vegetables, cheese with vegetables, etc.).
Perhaps I am misreading your post. If so - apologies in advance.
If not there may be a misunderstanding of the rescue pen. The Glucagon kits currently available and being proposed do not contain any glucose. Rather, they contain the Glucagon hormone. Current kits have this in solid form. Proposed kits have this in liquid form. This hormone after being injected subcutaneously (just the same as one would inject insulin) will travel to the liver where it will cause the liver to release stored glucose into the bloodstream.
@Tim35 Yes, I think I misunderstood the post and the description.
I’m interested in how these pens work. It’s the first time I hear about Glucagone Kits (liquid form).
My concern is: how does the “liquid” hormone move from the tissues (arm, bottom, abdomen) towards the liver?
After the shot, the liver receives the signal (or the presence of the hormone) to release glucose into the blood cells.
Wouldn’t be easier to eat a smaller quantity of glucose (in the form of whole food) rather than injecting a hormone into a part of the body?
Sorry for my English.
It would do so in the same way that the current kits do. The only difference is that you won’t have to mix up a powder. It will already be in a liquid form for you.
If you do not know what glucagon is, and have never seen the current available kits (which generally get prescribed to anyone who uses insulin), here’s a description of the glucagon kit from Eli Lilly, who makes one of the kits.
Glucagon is generally used if carbohydrates can’t be eaten. For example, if someone is so low that they’re unconscious or having a seizure. Or they’re low while also vomitting, or they’ve eaten carbohydrates for the past three hours and for some reason are just not coming up.
