Insulin

GoodRx

Insulins are used to control blood sugar levels to treat diabetes type 1 and diabetes type 2 by helping the body convert sugar to energy.

Insulin Comparison Chart

Information based on manufacturer prescribing information and clinical studies.

Rapid Insulins

Many people who've tried these faster insulins report that their control is improved and that they feel better. The great advantage of fast insulins are that they match the "action time" for most meals. You can take them as you begin eating, rather than the 30 to 45 minutes prior to eating required of Regular. No longer do you need to accurately anticipate when you (or your young child with diabetes) will begin eating.

After a century, insulin is still expensive – could DIYers change that?

Insulin is a biologic drug, which means it’s produced by a living organism, not a chemical reaction. This process, called biomanufacturing, is more inconsistent than chemical synthesis of non-biologic drugs like aspirin. Making reliable biologic drugs is a little like winemaking. Even though the winemaker carefully follows a well-established process, minute differences will affect the final product. It’s always wine, but some vintages are better than others and tasting the wine is the only way to evaluate the final product.

Insulin Quest: When Lifesaving Drugs Are Out of Reach

Why some diabetics are taking extreme measures to access the insulin they need to survive.

The absurdly high cost of insulin, explained

One real solution to the problem, however, would be to bring a generic version of insulin to the market. There are currently no true generic options available (though there are several rebranded and biosimilar insulins). This is in part because companies have made those incremental improvements to insulin products, which has allowed them to keep their formulations under patent, and because older insulin formulations have fallen out of fashion.

The already staggering insulin shortage could get worse

But at the moment, insulin demand projections suggest that unless countries figure out how to make insulin more readily available for their affected populations—through such measures as improving access to insurance, forcing insurance companies to pay for more, or forcing drug companies to stabilize costs—millions more will go without the treatment for their type 2 diabetes.

What types of insulin are there and how do they act?

Here are the types of insulin that are on the market, as well as factors that can affect their action...

Diabetes and the Miracle of Insulin

The research team sold their patent rights to the University of Toronto for $1, believing insulin was too vital to be exploited. Their idealism was betrayed: Today, manufacture of the drug is controlled by three companies, and according to a 2018 Yale study published in JAMA, its high cost is forcing 1 in 4 Americans to skimp on their medication. The next frontier for insulin is finding a way to make it affordable for all.

Diabetes Patients at Risk From Rising Insulin Prices

A Yale study found that one in four patients admitted to cutting back on insulin use because of cost. The consequences can be deadly.

Insulin price hikes tell us a lot about what's wrong with drug pricing in America

Insulin price hikes tell us a lot about what's wrong with drug pricing in America

The High Price of Insulin Is Literally Killing People

As concerns about insulin availability have increased, paired with the fear of rising prices, advocates have sought to bring attention to this often-invisible issue by using #insulin4all across social media platforms. Insulin access is a topic discussed frequently within the diabetic community, but outside of it there is often little awareness of how serious insulin stretching can be.

When Old Drugs Are Made New Again

How can it be that a drug which has been on the market for more than 90 years – and is effective at slowing or even stopping the progression of a common, deadly disease – is still so costly that Americans can lose their eyesight, their kidneys, their limbs, and their independence because they are unable to afford it?

Break Up the Insulin Racket

Insulin has been around for almost a century. The World Health Organization considers it an essential medicine, which means it should be available “at a price the individual and the community can afford.” So why is this product increasingly too expensive for many Americans?

Frederick Banting’s discovery of insulin in the 1920s saved a child's life. It’s still saving lives.

The Canadian scientist led the charge that discovered insulin.

My review of Afrezza Rapid Acting Insulin

Who wants to get comfortable with a product that may not be available for the long term? But the company seems to find innovative ways to continue functioning, and even expand. So two weeks ago, I started my “PB & A” experiment (pump basal & Afrezza) for all of my bolus dosing.

These Biohackers Are Creating Open-Source Insulin

The biohackers’ goal is fairly straightforward: To make and refine synthetic insulin from E. coli bacteria and document their process. The result, they hope, will be that a generic pharmaceutical company will use that protocol to make insulin that’s affordable for diabetes patients all over the world.

A Do-It-Yourself Revolution in Diabetes Care

Biohackers are attempting to resurrect an older product to address the lack of generic insulin, Dr. Greene said. “I don’t think that we should be surprised that a population of technologically savvy patients, whose lives are dependent on access to a supply of a biological agent, should be interested in taking means of production into their own hands, especially at time when insulin prices have risen at unpredictably alarming rates.”

A Science Odyssey

In 1920, Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting visited the University of Toronto to speak to the newly appointed head of the department of physiology, John J.R. Macleod. Macleod had studied glucose metabolism and diabetes, and Banting had a new idea on how to find not only the cause but a treatment for the so-called "sugar disease."

Afrezza – The Second Generation Inhaled Insulin

I n 2006, Exubera entered and had a short life on the market, as it lasted 13 months. Pfizer withdrew the first generation inhaled insulin, for several reasons – lack of support among practitioners and patients, large device, confusing dosing regimen, and high cost. In June 2014, the Food and Drug Administration approved Afrezza for use as a bolus insulin, in conjunction with basal insulin, for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Unlike injectable bolus insulin, Afrezza cannot be used for the management of diabetic ketoacidosis.

Breathe deeply: Sanofi will no longer market Afrezza inhaled insulin

This is a big step back for MannKind. After months of disappointing sales, Sanofi has finally ended its bid to market MannKind’s Afrezza inhaled insulin product, which was one of the more controversial and closely watched product launches in the pharmaceutical industry over the last few years. In a memo to employees, the drug maker said it plans to transfer rights to the product back to MannKind in April.

Good Lord. Even the Price of Insulin Is Skyrocketing

At this point, it’s getting hard to keep track of all the stories of drug companies jacking up the prices of prescription medications to nauseating heights for little identifiable reason other than the fact that, unlike in other developed countries, the U.S. government lets them.

Here's Why Insulin Is So Expensive, And How To Reduce Its Price

She drew the life-saving medication into the syringe, just 10cc of colorless fluid for the everyday low price of, gulp, several hundred dollars. Was that a new chemotherapy, specially designed for her tumor? Was it a “specialty drug,” to treat her multiple sclerosis? Nope. It was insulin, a drug that has been around for decades.

How Afrezza Inhaled Insulin Makes My Life Better

When I first learned about Afrezza, it seemed like it was the perfect stealth solution to taking insulin, but now that I’ve been taking it for over a year, I know that’s a mistake. The Afrezza device whistles on inhale.

How Does Insulin Work in Our Bodies?

The prevalence of diabetes, a condition related to the body’s inability to appropriately produce a hormone called insulin, has been steadily increasing worldwide over the last 30 years.

Inhaled Insulin Flops Again

Afrezza, the inhaled insulin that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2014 after years of anticipation, was abandoned last month by the drug company marketing it — Sanofi — after a measly $5 million in sales during the first nine months of 2015. To put that number in perspective, this is a product that cost $1.8 billion to develop, and that Sanofi paid $925 million for the right to market.

Insulin Pens: Improving Adherence and Reducing Costs

Pen needles are more convenient to use, less painful, and result in better adherence and improved health outcomes for patients with diabetes than traditional pen/ needle/vial administration of insulin.

Novo Knocks it Out of the Park with New

It's not an app. It's not a pump. It's a super-pen from Novo Nordisk called the NovoPen Echo, one of which I've been test-driving lately.

The Discovery and Early Development of Insulin

This site documents the initial period of the discovery and development of insulin, 1920-1925, here at the University of Toronto. It presents over seven thousand page images reproducing original documents ranging from laboratory notebooks and charts, correspondence, writings, and published papers to photographs, awards, clippings, scrapbooks, printed ephemera and artifacts.

The History of Insulin

Since insulin was discovered in 1921, it has become one of the most thoroughly studied molecules in scientific history. Diabetes has been recognized as a distinct medical condition for at least 3,500 years, but its cause was a mystery until early this century.

Insulin for Life

Insulin for Life Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that collects and distributes insulin and other diabetes supplies that would otherwise be wasted.

Insulin Pumpers

Support and information for adults and children with diabetes.

Open Insulin Project

We're a team of Bay Area biohackers working on newer, simpler, less expensive ways to make insulin.

Stand Up for Affordable Insulin

Our goal is to ensure that insulin is affordable and accessible for all people who need this lifesaving medication.

Insulin Synthesis and Secretion

Insulin is synthesized in significant quantities only in beta cells in the pancreas. The insulin mRNA is translated as a single chain precursor called preproinsulin, and removal of its signal peptide during insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum generates proinsulin.

Afrezza

Afrezza is the only rapid acting insulin available that can be inhaled. Other mealtime insulin options are delivered through injection. Afrezza can potentially save you about 1,000 needle sticks per year. *

Humulin

For the treatment of high blood sugar (glucose) levels, 3 types of Humulin U-100 insulin can help manage diabetes. Each type varies in how fast it starts working and how long the effects last.

Lantus

Lantus® is a long-acting insulin analog indicated to improve glycemic control in adults and children (6 years and older) with type 1 diabetes mellitus and in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Lantus® should be administered once a day at the same time every day.

American Diabetes Association

There are more than 20 types of insulin sold in the United States. These insulins differ in how they are made, how they work in the body, and how much they cost. Your doctor will help you find the right type of insulin for your health needs and your lifestyle.

EndocrineWeb.com

Insulin was the first hormone identified (late 1920s), which won the doctor and medical student who discovered it the Nobel Prize (Banting and Best). They discovered insulin by tying a string around the pancreatic duct of several dogs.

MedicineNet

Insulin comes in three different forms-vials, prefilled syringes, and cartridges. The cartridges are to be used in a pen-like device that simplifies injection. Human recombinant insulin, insulin lispro, insulin aspart, and insulin glargine are the commonly-used insulins. Beef and pork insulin are infrequently used. Regular human insulin (Novolin R, Humulin R) is available in vials, cartridges, and prefilled syringes.

MedlinePlus

Store unopened vials of insulin, unopened disposable dosing devices and unopened insulin pens in the refrigerator. Do not freeze insulin and do not use insulin that has been frozen.