I am a pharmacy student who was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and I have been doing my own research on new diabetes treatments and insulin. When are “buccal and inhaled insulin” due to come onto the market? How much would they cost? How frequently would you have to administer them? What dose would you use?

My guess is that buccal insulin rather than a href=”http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/inhaledi.htm”>Inhaled insulin will be the preferred means of administration. Both seem to work well in clinical trials; but the buccal insulin device is much more convenient.

At the moment, these insulins will tend to be used before meals and snacks with the background administration of a single daily injection of Lantus (insulin glargine). Both buccal and inhaled insulin require about five times as much insulin for the same biological effect and the ultimate price is likely to be a compromise between demand and the use of significantly more and specially packaged insulin.

DOB
Additional comments from David Mendosa, A Writer on the Web:

I don’t think that anyone outside the pharmaceutical companies working on inhaled and buccal insulin would have any idea what it would cost, and I doubt if you could get any of them outside of participating in clinical trials. As to the dose, I have heard that inhaled insulin requires eight or nine times as much to be equally effective as insulin injections. As to frequency there is no reason to think that it would be any different from any other fast-acting insulin.

DM
Additional comments from Dr. Stuart Brink:

Buccal insulin is in very early research trials so not likely to be available for several years. It would probably be used as a bolus insulin much the way Regular or the new fast acting analogs (Humalog or Novolog) are used now.

Like most new medications, cost would likely be relatively high for the first few years and then, come down, with further use and availability. However, more studies are needed before it is marketed.

SB