Degludec: A Novel Basal Insulin

Abstract

Limitations of conventional human basal insulins like NPH have led to the development of more stable and peak less analogs. However, the first generation of basal analogs like glargine and detemir has certain shortcomings which do not allow them to be termed ideal basal insulin. Degludec, a novel basal insulin analog has the potential to overcome these limitations. This paper reviews the potential advantages of degludec over existing basal insulins and analogs. It discusses the basic and clinical studies performed on degludec so far, and highlights the possible role this molecule can play in the management of diabetes mellitus. In this paper, the recent patents on basal insulin have been reviewed so as to provide an insight into the advances in this field. In this article, we present a review of Degludec, as well as related patents.