Danish pharmaceutical company ‘Novo Nordisk’ has launched a once-weekly insulin injection in the US market. EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK/Yonhap News
A new treatment has been introduced that can reduce daily type 2 diabetes insulin injections to just once a week. It offers the advantage of cutting the number of injections from 365 to 52 per year, but because the drug effect lasts for a week, patients must be alert to the risk of hypoglycemia.
According to a report by the Washington Post on the 16th (local time), Danish pharmaceutical company ‘Novo Nordisk’ announced on the 11th that it will launch ‘Awiqli’, a once-weekly insulin for type 2 diabetes, in the US market. Awiqli received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March.
Awiqli is the first once-weekly insulin product to be launched in the US market. Fewer injections improve treatment convenience and reduce the burden of pain. Rosalina McCoy, associate professor of endocrinology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said, “It will help older adults, people with disabilities, and patients with memory impairments who have difficulty managing their own blood sugar and insulin schedules.”
Professor McCoy added, “The fact that someone only has to visit the home once a week to administer the injection is a major advantage,” and said, “It is expected to ease the burden on nurses working in long-term care facilities that are short-staffed.”
The most important side effect to watch for is hypoglycemia. According to Novo Nordisk, hypoglycemia was reported as a common adverse reaction in clinical trials of Awiqli. When blood sugar becomes too low, patients may experience tremors or irritability, and in severe cases they can become confused or face life-threatening situations.
Because Awiqli’s effect lasts for a week after a single injection, careful attention must be paid to dose adjustment. If the administered dose is excessively high, the risk of hypoglycemia increases, so the initial dose must be determined with particular caution.
Kasia Lipska, associate professor of endocrinology at Yale School of Medicine, said, “Awiqli’s long duration of action is its greatest strength and at the same time its greatest limitation,” and assessed that “it may end up being a shot used for a limited group of patients.”
Price and insurance coverage are also key variables. Novo Nordisk has set the list price of Awiqli at 99 dollars (about 140,000 won) per multi-dose pen, and the number of pens a patient uses per month may vary depending on the dose they need. Novo Nordisk estimated two pens as a one-month supply.
Experts explain that patients should choose the most appropriate therapy—between daily injections and once-weekly injections—by considering lifestyle, hypoglycemia risk, and other individual factors.
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