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Toujeo - Three Questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter asparagusp
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asparagusp

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I know Toujeo is a more concentrated form of Lantus but what "attracts" me to using it is it lasts up to 36 hours as opposed to 24 hours. Two questions:-

1) Would the crossover eliminate/decrease the need for Gliclazide by any chance?

2) Make me more vulnerable to hypos?

3) I take 8 units Lantus currently so would it be viable?

Thanks
 
Hi @asparagusp, I'm not aware of many users of Toujeo on the forum, or even in the UK, and I have no experience myself, so I'd recommend talking to a Diabetes specialist on this point.

In regard to your questions though, Toujeo is a form of Glargine that has a longer action time, as you identify. Given what its purpose is, I suspect it will make no difference to your use of Gliclazide, which is intended to increase pancreas insulin output in response to food, whereas the Glargine is generally managing your background levels.

According to the Sanofi studies, in Type 2, Toujeo reduced hypos compared to Lantus. http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-re...at-all-levels-of-hba1c-control-593222861.html

You'd have to discuss with a professional on dosing and whether it's viable. I don't know enough. I can't see why it wouldn't be, and the reports I've seen from the states show it seems to be a 1:1 dose mapping. Given your concerns about hypos, which you should discuss with the specialist, you should find them sympathetic to change. I'd note that there are two forms of Toujeo - U100 and U300. The U300 is the concentrated form.
 
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To be honest, I'm not sure whether there's much point in switching to Toujeo... As far as I'm aware, it's barely different to Lantus and was designed primarily for diabetics who require large amounts of basal insulin. The idea behind this insulin is to allow those who are on large basal doses (60u+ for example) to get away with injecting less insulin. This has many benefits such as reducing weight gain, keeping injection sites lump free, etc. You're on 8u of Lantus so this doesn't really apply to you.

Even though it claims to last 36hrs, you'll still need to inject it once daily, so it's no different to what you're doing now.

Gliclazide works by stimulating your pancreas beta cells to produce more insulin. This drug combined with any form of basal insulin, can increase your risks of hypos. Providing that your Lantus dose and Toujeo dose were both set correctly and maintained your background insulin needs with equal effect, one insulin would not make you more vulnerable to hypos compared with the other.
 
asparagusp said:
Thanks Guys. I read that Sanofi's intention was to replace Lantus with Toujeo.
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Yup. Lantus is now off-patent and Basaglar is being produced by Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim as a generic cheaper, bio-similar version of Glargine. To maintain profit levels in the long acting realm, Sanofi need to move people over to Toujeo.

As an interesting aside, from what I saw on Twitter, insurance companies in the US are dropping Lantus from cover and adding Basaglar in its place.
 
Basagla - dreadful name. Okay I'll wait for Lixilan, Sanofi newbie, in the next few months!
 
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