Tresiba Launches in the US – Next Generation Once-Daily Basal Insulin
Twitter Summary: @NovoNordisk launches #Tresiba, next-gen once-daily basal #insulin - how does price compare to #Levemir?
Novo Nordisk has announced the launch of next-generation once-daily basal insulin Tresiba (insulin degludec) in the US. The FDA approved Tresiba last September after a very long and delayed approval process. It provides several exciting features for patients, including a flatter glucose profile, less nighttime hypoglycemia, increased dosing flexibility (it does not have to be taken at the same time of day), and fewer injections for those using higher doses of insulin (learn more here!). Tresiba comes in prefilled FlexTouch pens in two concentrations: U100 (one ml of insulin = 100 units of insulin) and U200 (one ml of insulin = 200 units of insulin).
Tresiba is priced about 10% more than its predecessor, Levemir. Of course, the amount people actually pay will depend largely on insurance coverage, but it’s promising to see that Tresiba was not priced significantly higher than the earlier generation insulin. For those with commercial insurance (not Medicare/Medicaid etc.), Novo Nordisk is offering a Tresiba Instant Savings Card that could also reduce co-pays to as low as $15 per month for up to 24 months. This plan is comparable to Sanofi’s next-generation basal insulin Toujeo that launched in April of 2015, which came with a savings card program for patients with commercial insurance (but not Medicare/Medicaid/VA patients) to pay no more than $15 per prescription for the next year. For more on Toujeo’s launch, see our past coverage here. -CA
image from media.tresiba.com
