The Swiss multinational company, Roche, will introduce their newly launched Accu-Chek insulin pump, a unique insulin delivery system for patients, in India shortly. The insulin pump, which is an innovation of the international major, will be launched by Roche Diagnostics during early 2005 in the country, said senior company officials.

The pump is an advanced insulin delivery system, which matches the physiological insulin needs through a variety of easy programming options, can adjust insulin dosages to achieve better metabolic control.

The Accu-Chek pump provides two daily basal rate profiles in which insulin is delivered every three minutes. This results in the delivery of 480 precisely daily doses of insulin, which better matches the physiological insulin needs in comparison to the standard non-pump treatment of four daily injections.

"The insulin pump will revolutionise the way of insulin administration in the country. The patient just has to attach the pump (which contains insulin catridge) in his waist area and set the meter as per his insulin requirements. The pump is designed in such a way that it will automatically administer insulin into the body without any manual intervention," said Sanjeev Johar, managing director, Roche Diagnostics.

Currently, a patient has to administer insulin manually with the help of a syringe or pen. There is every chance of an irregularity in compliance here, which can be avoided by using insulin pumps.

The company has already launched the pump in Germany and Netherlands. The launch for the rest of the Europe will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2004.

"The pump is currently undergoing trials across various hospitals in India. As it is already well accepted across Europe, Roche is required to carry only a single trial in India. We are expecting an approval for launch very shortly," said Johar.

However, Roche officials refused to comment over the pricing of the product in India, however assured of bringing the price level down to the Indian conditions. "The pricing of insulin pump varies from region to region. In India, the product will be priced considering the Indian market scenario," said Johar.