Sanofis long-acting insulin Toujeo approved for use in Scotland

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has approved the use of Sanofi’s long-acting insulin Toujeo (insulin glargine) for people with diabetes in Scotland. Diabetes patients in Scotland will be able to get limited access to Toujeo on the National Health Service (NHS).
While endorsing the drug, the SMC stated that it should only be used for patients with type 1 diabetes who have a high risk of nocturnal hypoglycemia, or people with type 2 diabetes who frequently experience hypogylcemia.
Toujeo received European approval in April, after trial data indicated that it is safer than Sanofi’s older insulin Lantus. Compared to Lantus, Toujeo was linked to fewer cases of nocturnal and daytime hypoglycemia. That said, Lantus users need not worry about its safety; while Toujeo is linked to fewer cases of hypoglycemia, there are no safety concerns surrounding Lantus.
Insulin glargine is a long-acting basal insulin analogue injected once a day to help control blood glucose levels in people with diabetes. Insulin glargine has a long duration, between 18 and 26 hours.
Toujeo was released in the UK in August to help people with insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes manage their blood glucose levels without running too high a risk of hypoglycemia. While Toujeo led to similar HbA1c reductions compared to the older Sanofi insulin Lantus, it led to significantly less hypogylcemia.
Recently, a new long-acting insulin, Abasaglar, has been launched within UK. Abasaglar, manufactured by Eli Lilly, is biosimilar to Lantus; that is it works in the same way. Currently Abasaglar is awaiting review and approval from the SMC.