This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Anne L. Peters, MD: I'm here with a dear friend of mine, Dr Irl Hirsch, at the end of the virtual American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions to discuss a few of the findings from the meeting, as well as how we feel about virtual meetings. Irl, could you tell us a bit about some of the newer insulins?
Irl B. Hirsch, MD: Yes, thank you. It's always good to be with you. There are, as usual, quite a few new insulins to think about and hope come to the market. One of those is the weekly long-acting basal insulin from Novo Nordisk. I did not know this was in development. What's interesting is that other companies are also working on a weekly basal insulin.
Upon my first glance at the data, I think this will work quite well in people with type 2 diabetes. We now have history of using a weekly medication in type 2 diabetes with our GLP-1 inhibitors.
But I am a bit concerned about using a weekly insulin because of the fact that the half-life of this insulin is 196 hours. That's incredible. Think about onboarding patients on the outpatient side, but even more so — and this has become a big interest of mine — what happens when somebody on a weekly basal insulin comes in to the hospital and that insulin is not in the hospital?
COMMENTARY
Irl Hirsch Reviews ADA Highlights With Anne Peters
Anne L. Peters, MD; Irl B. Hirsch, MD; Mark Harmel, MPH
DisclosuresJuly 01, 2020
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Anne L. Peters, MD: I'm here with a dear friend of mine, Dr Irl Hirsch, at the end of the virtual American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions to discuss a few of the findings from the meeting, as well as how we feel about virtual meetings. Irl, could you tell us a bit about some of the newer insulins?
Irl B. Hirsch, MD: Yes, thank you. It's always good to be with you. There are, as usual, quite a few new insulins to think about and hope come to the market. One of those is the weekly long-acting basal insulin from Novo Nordisk. I did not know this was in development. What's interesting is that other companies are also working on a weekly basal insulin.
Upon my first glance at the data, I think this will work quite well in people with type 2 diabetes. We now have history of using a weekly medication in type 2 diabetes with our GLP-1 inhibitors.
But I am a bit concerned about using a weekly insulin because of the fact that the half-life of this insulin is 196 hours. That's incredible. Think about onboarding patients on the outpatient side, but even more so — and this has become a big interest of mine — what happens when somebody on a weekly basal insulin comes in to the hospital and that insulin is not in the hospital?
Medscape Diabetes © 2020 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Anne L. Peters, Irl B. Hirsch, Mark Harmel. Irl Hirsch Reviews ADA Highlights With Anne Peters - Medscape - Jul 01, 2020.
Tables
Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author(s)
Anne L. Peters, MD
Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, Keck School of Medicine; Director, University of Southern California Westside Center for Diabetes, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Disclosure: Anne L. Peters, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) on the advisory board for: Abbott Diabetes Care; Becton Dickinson; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Livongo; Medscape; Merck & Co., Inc.; Novo Nordisk; Omada Health; OptumHealth; sanofi; Zafgen
Received research support from: Dexcom; MannKind Corporation; Astra Zeneca
Serve(d) as a member of a speakers bureau for: Novo Nordisk
Irl B. Hirsch, MD
Professor; Diabetes Treatment and Teaching Chair, Department of Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Nutrition, University of Washington Medicine Diabetes Institute, Seattle, Washington
Disclosure: Irl B. Hirsch, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: Abbott Diabetes; BigFoot
Received research grant from: Medtronic; Insulet
Mark Harmel, MPH, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Mark Harmel, MPH
Freelance writer and videographer, Los Angeles, California