Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has launched Awiqli (insulin icodec) in India, making the country among the first to offer the world’s only once-weekly basal insulin for adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The breakthrough therapy is expected to significantly reduce the treatment burden by cutting the number of insulin injections from 365 a year to just 52.
Basal insulin helps regulate blood sugar levels throughout the day and night. Until now, patients requiring insulin therapy had to take injections daily, and in some cases multiple times a day. Novo Nordisk said the once-weekly regimen is designed to tackle one of the biggest barriers to insulin therapy in India—fear of daily injections—which often delays treatment by seven to nine years.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
A 700-unit pack of Awiqli has been priced at ₹2,611, translating to about ₹3.73 per unit, making it 30–40 per cent cheaper per unit than many existing daily basal insulin therapies. Patients requiring around 10 units of insulin per day would need approximately 70 units of the weekly formulation, costing nearly ₹261 per week.
India has nearly 10.1 crore people living with diabetes and another 13.6 crore with prediabetes. More than nine lakh people have Type 1 diabetes, while around 10 per cent of those with Type 2 diabetes eventually require insulin therapy. Experts believe a simplified weekly injection schedule could improve treatment adherence and encourage patients to begin insulin earlier.
Clinical trial data from the ONWARDS-1 programme showed that Awiqli achieved blood sugar control comparable to or better than once-daily insulin glargine while maintaining a similar safety profile. More patients also achieved target HbA1c levels below seven per cent without experiencing hypoglycaemia.
Doctors have welcomed the launch, calling it a major advancement in diabetes care. They believe the new therapy could improve patient acceptance, reduce injection anxiety and help bridge the large gap between those who need insulin and those currently receiving it in India.
