New treatment option to manage diabetes

Optimal glycemic control is fundamental to the management of diabetes. The concentration of blood glucose—a form of sugar that is the primary source of energy for every cell in our body—must always be maintained at a constant level.

The key here is insulin, the hormone secreted by the pancreas that controls blood glucose levels in the body. But since those with diabetes can’t produce sufficient amount of insulin to regulate blood glucose levels (for those with type 1 diabetes) or is less able to take up glucose from the blood because the body can’t respond effectively to insulin (for those with type 2 diabetes), the need to inject insulin is essential.

Depending on what their doctors would require, those with diabetes take a rapid but short-acting (called bolus) insulin before meal (in some cases, it is taken during or after meals). Others also take long acting insulin otherwise known as basal insulin. Compared to its short acting counterpart, basal insulin ensures that cells are fed with a constant stream of glucose throughout the day, most especially during periods of fasting such as while sleeping. This is because the liver is continuously secreting glucose into the bloodstream. Thus, little or a complete lack of insulin, even for just an hour or two, would result in a sharp rise in blood glucose level. Without basal insulin, many of the body’s cells would starve for fuel.

New basal insulin

Early this year, sanofi-aventis Philippines announced the availability of its latest basal insulin called Toujeo. The once-daily basal insulin is based on the Lantus, the French pharmaceutical giant’s bestselling insulin glargine injection.

Toujeo contains 300 units of insulin glargine per milliliter, meaning, it is three times more concentrated than Lantus. Compared to Lantus, Toujeo only requires one-third of the injection volume to deliver the same amount of insulin units.

Sanofi shared that both Toujeo and Lantus achieved a similar reduction of blood glucose during clinical trials. However, Toujeo produced a more stable and prolonged glucose-lowering effect than Lantus and the effect lasted longer than 24 hours.

But while both therapies require the same subcutaneous administration method and are delivered via the SoloStar disposable prefilled pen, one should remember that Toujeo is not bioequivalent to Lantus, meaning the two should not be interchanged.

Less hypoglycemia

According to sanofi-aventis, while equally effective as Lantus, Toujeo has the tendency to lessen occurrence of hypoglycemia, a condition when one’s blood glucose level becomes so low (most common problem for those taking insulin treatment).

Hypoglycemia often occurs when a diabetic took too much insulin or other diabetes medications, skip a meal, or exercise harder than usual.

While hypoglycemia often starts with having heart palpitations, pale skin, shaking hands, and being irritable, it could worsen to having abnormal or confused behavior, experiencing blurred vision (very danger- ous while driving or operating machines), seizures and loss of consciousness.

Dr. John Anderson, former president of the American Diabetes Association, said in a statement: “Despite the proven efficacy of insulin, ensuring effective titration and maintenance can be a challenge for both patients and healthcare professionals due to hypoglycemia concerns. Toujeo provides a new option that may help patients manage their diabetes.”

Sanofi also informed that Toujeo was associated with a lower rate of confirmed hypo- glycemia among type 2 diabetes patients while achieved a similar rate of hypoglycemia among type 1 patients.