The first once-weekly basal insulin approved in the United States is now stocked at 70,000 retail pharmacies nationwide, following the manufacturer's nationwide launch announcement. The product, insulin icodec-abae, sold by Novo Nordisk as Awiqli, was cleared in March for adults with type 2 diabetes and replaces seven basal injections a week with one.
For patients, the change is easiest to understand as an annual figure. A daily basal regimen means roughly 365 injections a year. A weekly regimen means 52. Tom Scales, a senior vice president at the company, said the product "reduces the frequency of daily basal insulin injections from 7 to 1 per week."
