New Basal Insulins Introduced

Page changed: Insulin for Type 2 Diabetes

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 In spring of 2015, a new basal insulin, Toujeo, was introduced. It is another version of the same insulin molecule found in Lantus, sold in a more concentrated form. Two other basal insulins. Tresiba and Basaglar have not yet hit the market in the U.S. though Tresiba is available in Europe and Basaglar has been approved for sale in 2016.  You can learn more about the new basal insulins HERE. ...

The new basal insulins are being marketed with the claim that they last 24 hours and have an even flatter activity curve. However, given that all the well-known insulins can perform differently from what the marketing materials say they will, we will have to wait for a year or two until a significant number of users in the online diabetes community have reported on their results  to know know how true this is. The new basal insulins are also being marketed, where possible, with the claim that they are less likely to cause hypos. However, the FDA has refused to let Toujeo be marketed with this claim, though the European authorities allow it.

ALSO: Deleted reference to concerns about enhanced cancer risk with Lantus as subsequent research seems to suggest this is not an issue.

A new high profile study that claims to show Januvia is completely safe, does not

Page Changed: DPP-4 Inhibitors Januvia, Onglyza, Trajenta, Combiglyze, Janumet, and Jentadueto

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A larger, more high profile study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in June of 2015:Effect of Sitagliptin on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes. Jennifer B. Green, et al. NEJM, June 8, 2015DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1501352 Though the focus of the study was on cardiovascular outcomes, it was also reported as stating that there was no sign of more pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer in the group that took Januvia.

Short Term Studies Can't Discover Potentially Fatal Cancers that Take A Decade to Be Detectable

There are several reasons to refute the idea that these studies prove these drugs don't cause cancer. The first study only lasted 2 years, which is far too short a time for the changes in pancreatic architecture discovered by Dr. Butler to result in overt pancreatitis.  The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine study only lasted three years. But it would be quite possible to draw the same conclusion about the safety of smoking cigarettes if you limited your study to a three year period. Cancers of the pancreas take a long time to grow to where they are detectable, and by the time they are, they are almost always fatal. Pancreatic cancer is almost always symptom-free until it is too late for any treatment to keep the patient from dying within a few months.