Dive Brief:
- Toujeo is Sanofi's next-gen long-lasting insulin, effectively replacing Lantus, which went off patent in March. The drug has now launched in the U.K.
- The main advantage of Toujeo is that it offers effective blood glucose (BG) control, like Lantus, with a significantly lower incidence of nocturnal hypoglycemia—a very common and disturbing adverse event associated with insulin treatment.
- Although Sanofi is able to include the nocturnal hypoglycemia data on the label in the U.K., the FDA did not allow that data on the label in the U.S.
Dive Insight:
Hopefully, Toujeo will have a stronger launch in the U.K. than it did in the U.S. With just a little more than $31 million in sales for the first half of 2015, it seems like the sales reps may be having a hard time differentiating Toujeo without being able to use the nocturnal hypoglycemia data.
Nonetheless, the U.K. is a different market. Analysts predict that a successful first three years post-launch would translate into a good start for Sanofi there. And all things considered, given the strength of the data, the Toujeo launch has a good possibility of going very well in the U.K.