
December 13, 2002
Insulin Analogs
Question from California, USA:
I have long been encouraging my wife to switch over to Lantus.
Today we saw a CDE to get new meters. The CDE also recommended Lantus for her. But my wife said that she doesn’t want to switch back to syringes after using insulin pens. Whereupon the CDE said that she saw in her copy of the PDR that Aventis seems to be planning on using pens.
So I looked up in my CD-ROM of the PDR and found this under “How Supplied” for Lantus: 3 mL cartridges*, package of 5 (NDC 0088-2220-52) *Cartridges are for use only in the OptiPen One Insulin Delivery Device
My question: When?
Answer:
Lantus (insulin glargine) is sold in Germany and in the UK in two different pens (OptiPen and OptiSet), but in the USA, it’s only available in 10-cc vials for use with insulin syringes. The company has not announced any definite plans on when it will be available in the USA in pens, nor what type of pen will be used.
WWQ