New Type 2 Treatment Ready for Distribution
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently approved the sale of Soliqua 100/33, Sanofi's latest treatment for people with type 2 diabetes.
The FDA is the first drug regulation group to approve the sale of Soliqua 11/33. This approval gives the Paris-based pharmaceutical company to market their new treatment within the U.S. beginning in January 2017, offering new treatment possibilities for type 2 diabetics across the country.
What is Soliqua?
Soliqua, Sanofi's latest treatment option, is an insulin pen intended for type 2 diabetics who are inadequately controlled on basal insulin (less than 60 Units daily) or lixisenatide. Patients can use the pre-filled pen once a day. The pen is filled with a combination of diabetes medication: 15 to 60 Units of insulin glargine 100 Units/mL (the ingredient in Lantus pens), and 5 to 20 mcg of lixisenatide.
According to research, the treatment does look promising; in a study of Soliqua, researchers discovered that 55 percent of patients lowered their A1c below 7 percent with the new treatment. By contrast, only 30 of those patients treated with Lantus pens alone achieved an A1c of that level.
A Word of Caution
As is the case with any new drug, there are still precautions that type 2 diabetics should be wary of. For example, Soliqua 100/33 has not been studied in people with a history of pancreatitis. It is also not intended for people with type-1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis, and there has not yet been any research on its safety for minors.
However, these precautions have not stopped Elias Zerhouni, M.D., the president of Global R&D at Sanofi from expressing his excitement over this new development in diabetes treatment. As he said in a recent statement:
"Sanofi continues to be a pioneer in developing diabetes therapies and in bringing forward new treatment options for the approximately 50 percent of patients whose blood sugar levels remain uncontrolled on daily basal insulin. Soliqua 100/33 is an alternate new approach that can help adults living with type 2 diabetes uncontrolled on basal insulin or lixisenatide to reach their treatment goal."