US approves another weekly insulin option for type 2 diabetes

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Onswik, a once-weekly insulin for adults with type 2 diabetes, offering an alternative to daily long-acting insulin injections. Eli Lilly announced the decision on September 24.

The treatment provides basal insulin, the steady background supply used to help control blood sugar. It is designed to work over seven days and is approved alongside diet and exercise. Compared with once-daily basal insulin, it could mean more than 300 fewer injections a year, according to Lilly. That reduction concerns background insulin, not any separate mealtime insulin a person may need.

The approval was supported by four late-stage trials involving more than 3,400 adults with type 2 diabetes. Each met its main goal, showing that the weekly treatment reduced A1C, a measure of blood sugar control, comparably to the daily basal insulins studied.

The trials also found a similar overall safety profile. Low blood sugar remains a risk, and Onswik should not be used by people with type 1 diabetes because of an increased risk of dangerously low blood sugar.

Lilly expects the prefilled injection pen to become available in the US in the coming months. Onswik has already received approvals in Europe, Japan and Mexico.