In the news.. Insulin pen shortage, Omnipod 5 update, once-weekly insulin approved in Canada, and more!

It’s In the News! A look at the top diabetes stories and headlines happening now. Top stories this week: South Africa runs out of insulin pens - and why this could happen anywhere, once-weekly insulin is approved in Canada, update on Omnipod 5 with Dexcom G7 rollout, more older people are getting type 1 but more people are living longer with it, CGM at the Olympics and more!

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Episode transcription with links:

 

Hello and welcome to Diabetes Connections In the News! I’m Stacey Simms and every other Friday I bring you a short episode with the top diabetes stories and headlines happening now.

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In the news is brought to you by Edgepark simplify your diabetes journey with Edgepark

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Quick note – the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions is this weekend. That means new research studies will be released, technology announced, and likely lots of news will be made. I’m recording this before the conference starts – if there’s enough going on we may have an additional In the News next week.

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Our top story right now…

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No more insulin pens for South Africa.. .as the pharmaceutical industry shifts production priorities to blockbuster weight-loss drugs. Novo Nordisk, the company that has supplied South Africa with human insulin in pens for a decade, opted not to renew its contract, which expired last month. No other company has bid on the contract — to supply 14 million pens for the next three years, at about $2 per pen.

Novo Nordisk’s  drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which are widely prescribed in the U.S. for weight loss, are sold in single-use pens produced by many of the same contracted manufacturers who make the multidose insulin pens. A month’s supply of Ozempic in the United States costs about $1,000, far more than insulin.

Novo Nordisk dominates the global market for insulin in pens and has supplied South Africa since 2014. Eli Lilly, the other major producer, has indicated in recent months that it is struggling to keep up with the significant demand for its weight-loss drug Zepbound.

Novo Nordisk is continuing to supply human insulin in vials to South Africa, where more than four million people live with diabetes, but pens are considered much easier to use and more precise.

The vial system was phased out for most South Africans in 2014. But recently, South Africa’s National Department of Health instructed clinicians that they should teach patients how to use vials and syringes of insulin instead of pens.

I posted about this already and said this is a canary in the coal mine and everyone going to ADA should be asking Novo and Lilly about this. GLP medications are fantastic but insulin cannot be left behind.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/health/insulin-pens-south-africa-ozempic-wegovy.html

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Once a week basal insulin – for type 1 and type 2 – comes to Canada. Novo Nordisk announced that it’s version of insulin icodec will be available starting June 30^th. They are calling it.. Awiqli – I promise I didn’t make that up.  Canada is the first country to get the product.

Awiqli works as a time release of insulin over the course of a week. It is more expensive. And  Canada's Drug Agency, which assesses drugs and recommends whether they should qualify for reimbursement under public drug plans, is still doing the math here. No word on private insurers coverage yet.

An FDA advisory board recently passed on approving weekly basal for people with type 1, saying the risk of low blood sugar was too great. But the full FDA hasn’t yet weighed in.

 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/world-s-first-weekly-insulin-injection-coming-to-canada-in-2-weeks-manufacturer-says-1.6929321

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The prevalence of people over 65 living with type 1 diabetes  went up 180% in the past 30 years, a new study finds. That’s an increase of 1.3 million people over 65 in 1990 with the disease to 3.7 million in 2019, the authors noted in a study published on June 12 in The BMJ. Data included people from 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019.

Dying from type 1 diabetes slipped by about 1% every year since 1990, the data also showed. The mortality for people 65 and up went down by 25% during the three decades covered in the study.

The most rapid prevalence was in North Africa and the Middle East, and Western Europe, and the slowest increase in prevalence was in North America. All 21 regions around the world had an increased prevalence of type 1 diabetes in people over 65.

The disease no longer contributes to a reduced life expectancy for many people due to medical care improvements, say these researchers.

https://www.mcknights.com/news/report-type-1-diabetes-prevalence-in-older-adults-nearly-triples-since-1990s/

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Hearing more about the limited rollout of Omnipod 5 with the Dexcom G7. This was announced in February but just seems to really be getting underway. A few people have received emails that people new to the system will be getting this first.. but that at the end of July current users will get a controller update so they can use G7 with the current pods. We’ll have more on this soon – I don’t have a link for you - but thanks to all of you who sent me those emails very much appreciate it.

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New life possible for Korean insulin pump EOPatch– this is a competitor to the Omnipod. A court has killed an injunction that meant the company, EOFlow, could not bring the patch pump to the US. Last year, the court initially granted that injunction and Medtronic backed out of an acquisition plan. No word yet from Medtronic if that deal is back on.. or if another company may work to bring EOFlow to the US.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/ban-against-insulin-pump-patch-sales-reversed-by-federal-circuit

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The CeQur Simplicity patch is now FDA-cleared for up to 4 days of wear. This is a mechanical patch pump that replaces fast-acting injections. This is an extension from 3 days to four.. now each patch replaces up to 12 injections making it the longest wearable insulin delivery patch. The company says that can be 1000 fewer shots a year. Marketed mostly to people with type 2 diabetes who use insulin, the company says nearly 90% of patients using CeQur Simplicity reported following their insulin regimen better as compared to multiple daily injections.(4) The patch is clinically proven to improve glycemic control, with patients achieving significantly improved A1C and time-in-range (TIR) goals.(5,6)

https://www.prweb.com/releases/cequr-simplicity-a-wearable-mealtime-insulin-delivery-device-obtains-fda-clearance-for-4-days-of-wear-to-further-simplify-diabetes-management-302173938.html

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A warning from Roche which says “dangerous counterfeits” of its diabetes medical devices ended up for sale on Amazon. Roche accused manufacturers and sellers based in India of selling counterfeit versions of test strips for its Accu-Chek glucometers.  This is part of a federal lawsuit. Roche said the counterfeit test strips are expired or nearly expired products that are repackaged with counterfeit labels bearing Roche’s registered U.S. trademarks and fake expiration dates.

After the suit was filed, a judge granted Roche’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop the defendants from selling the counterfeit products. The Amazon stores that were offering the products for sale appear to have been taken down.

Amazon is not a defendant in the case, but Roche claims that as part of the alleged scheme all of the counterfeit products sent to the U.S. were stored at Amazon warehouses across the country, including in Brooklyn.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/10/roche-counterfeit-diabetes-medical-devices.html

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Edgepark Commercial

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Summer Olympics this year may be a showcase for CGMs. Abbott is sponsoring a Dutch long distance running, he’ll be wearing the Libre. Other athletes are using the CGMs in training and may wear as allowed in their sports. There isn’t a lot of proof yet that these devices make a big difference for people without diabetes.. but high level athletes are looking for any edge possible. Expect to hear a lot more about this in the lead up to the Olympics July 26^th.

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/olympic-athletes-turn-to-diabetes-technology-in-medal-chase/7653234.html

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