Dive Brief:
- An European Medicines Agency (EMA) panel has recommended Sanofi's long-acting insulin Toujeo for approval in the EU.
- The EMA has noted that Toujeo provides long-lasting glycemic control, with a lower risk of hypoglycemia than Lantus, currently Sanofi's best-selling product.
- .Toujeo was approved by the FDA last week.
Dive Insight:
Approval of Toujeo in two major markets bodes well for Sanofi, which has been in a heated contest for market share of its leading product Lantus with Novo Nordisk's diabetes products. In fact, Sanofi is putting a lot of power behind Toujeo and betting on it achieving blockbuster status sooner rather than later. As BioPharma Dive has pointed out, analyses of potential Toujeo sales range from $1.7 billion in 2020 to $2 billion by 2018.
Lantus is facing competition in the branded marketplace and will soon face generic competition as it starts to lose patent protection in the near future. As a drug that has revenues in excess of $6 billion per year, this could have a hugely negative impact on Sanofi.
Despite the fact that a slightly higher dose of Toujeo may be needed to achieve similar glycemic control to Lantus, the newly approved drug's ability to help flatten out the dips will most likely be an attractive feature to endocrinologists and other healthcare practitioners—and that's what Sanofi is counting on.