Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk on Thursday launched its once-weekly basal insulin injection, Oakley, in India for the treatment of diabetes in adults, marking the country’s entry as the seventh market to offer the treatment.
The company said that Al-Awqali is designed for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and replaces the need for daily basal insulin injections with a dose once a week. This reduces the annual number of injections from 365 to only 52.
“It is a novel treatment and we (India) are the seventh country to launch (the injection),” Vikrant Shrotriya, managing director of Novo Nordisk in India, told PTI, adding that the injections will be offered in two pens – 700 units and 2,100 units, at a cost per unit. $3.73.
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With the reduction in the number of injections required for diabetics, the company stated that barriers to the need for insulin will be reduced.
Shrotriya noted that in standard treatments, diabetics will typically have to take insulin injections every day, which leads to people rejecting insulin because “they think they have to take it every day, and they have to take it for life.”
But with Al-Awaiqly, this barrier is reduced, and patients gain greater control.
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The Director-General added: “We believe that Al-Awqali will reduce the psychological and physical barriers to starting insulin, and will ultimately help more people achieve better control and a better quality of life.”
The injection will be available nationwide through 45,000 distributors.
(With inputs from PTI)
