Sanofi India continues to deliver breakthrough medicines for the management of diabetes with the launch of its new product - Toujeo, the next generation basal insulin. Toujeo is a once-daily, long-acting basal analog insulin that improves glycemic control in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia is a constant fear amongst people on insulin. Toujeo has demonstrated that it effectively lowers blood glucose, while minimizing the risk of hypoglycemia. It works by slowly releasing small amounts of insulin to provide continuous glucose-lowering activity that lasts beyond 24 hours. With its stable and flat/peak-less action profile, Toujeo reduces glycemic variability, i.e. the daily highs and lows that people with diabetes on insulin may experience.
The product also comes with an impressive MY COACH patient support program (offered free to patients prescribed Toujeo). This patient support program provides six comprehensive months of hand-holding patients through their treatment journey - tips on diet and lifestyle, training on injection techniques, sugar monitoring and more, via a mix of telephonic and in-person sessions. MY COACH will be offered under Sanofi’s Saath-7 initiative, the longest running patient support program in India, which has serviced more than 4,12,000 people with diabetes on insulin till date.
N Rajaram, managing director, Sanofi India, said, “At Sanofi, it is our continuous endeavor to expand our product portfolio and to offer newer healthcare solutions to people in the therapy areas such as diabetes & cardiovascular diseases, consumer healthcare, central nervous system, thrombosis, anti-infectives, to name a few. For over ten years, we have been supporting people with diabetes through an integrated care approach with our comprehensive diabetes management portfolio of differentiated products and services, to help meet their treatment goals. As a health journey partner, Sanofi understands the challenges of people with diabetes. Toujeo is an extension of Sanofi’s continued product innovation and complements the portfolio by maximizing the patient's comfort and safety. The launch of Toujeo™ reaffirms our strong commitment of expanding Sanofi’s portfolio and to drive better diabetes management in India.”
Oral drugs remain the mainstay and first line of treatment for diabetes. However, in time, many people with diabetes find that these drugs alone are not sufficient to control blood sugar and they may eventually need to include insulin as part of their diabetes management.
Dr. Mubarak Naqvi, Medical Head of Insulins, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Franchise, GEM Business Unit, Sanofi, said, “Basal insulins are considered the most convenient option for initiating people with diabetes on insulin. Being an ultra-long acting basal insulin, with its action lasting beyond 24 hours, Toujeo not only meets a patient’s basal insulin needs for a whole day, but also reduces blood sugar fluctuations for a smooth and predictable control. Patients usually fear the risk of hypoglycemia with insulins, but Toujeo has demonstrated a low hypoglycemia inducing risk, both during the night and daytime. Doctors can now confidently prescribe this advanced formulation of insulin for patients to have an optimized insulin experience.”
Toujeo was first approved in 2015 in the United States and since then, has been approved in over 65 countries worldwide. Toujeo is a prescription drug and is available in the newly designed SoloSTAR pen. It is a simple and easy to use pre-filled pen and contains 50% more insulin than the Lantus pen (450U in Toujeo SoloSTAR, as compared to 300U in Lantus SoloSTAR).