Insulin
Additional Information
Insulin is one of the most important products in the pharmaceutical industry based on the pure number of diabetics and the life-saving services that it provides. Given the size of the insulin market there have been significant developments in the past century that both address the time it takes to absorb the Insulin and how long it has an effect on the glucose levels.
Rapid-acting insulin, as evident in the name, is absorbed in the shortest amount of time and is therefore most useful shortly before a meal. The time it takes for insulin to be absorbed before a meal is crucial since it will help facilitate proper metabolization, so innovation in the rapid acting insulin is invaluable.
Studies also show that rapid-onset insulin analogs provide improved postprandial glucose control with less risk of hypoglycemia relative to regular human insulin. Overall, studies have demonstrated a safety profile similar to regular human insulin.
Glucagon
Additional Information
Perhaps the greatest advancement in the treatment of diabetes is the use of an insulin pump, which can be connected to a mobile device such as an iPhone, and receives insulin input from a glucose monitoring device. This device is able to replicate the essential insulin function of a non-diabetic pancreas through continuous monitoring. However, the insulin pump lacks the ability to perform a part of the pancreas function, the release of glucagon, the counter-regulatory hormone of insulin.
Insulin pumps can only raise blood glucose, and subsequently patients often suffer greater swings in blood glucose levels than a non-diabetic person and have an average glucose level that is too high. The evident solution to these problems is to create a bi-hormonal pump that would allow for the input of glucagon as well as insulin.
