Tresiba (Insulin Degludec) By Novo Nordisk

Tresiba (insulin degludec) is a long act insulin manufactured and distributed by Novo Nordisk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its use in the United States. Approval in the United States means that Novo Nordisk can legally air direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug commercials about their product on television. Novo Nordisk has taken advantage of this and recently aired a DTC commercial for Tresiba. Catchy music can easily capture the attention of a wondering mind and the DTC drug commercial Tresiba ready uses this to its advantage. The commercial has three different (ethnically diverse) individuals talking about the prescription drug Tresiba. All three individuals are busy, but at the same time extremely happy and as the commercials states multiple times “Tresiba ready!” Overall, the commercial does a good
When comparing Tresiba to other long-acting insulins I found some interesting results. The two agents I compared Tresiba with were Lantus (insulin glargine) and Levemir (insulin detemir). As far as efficacy in lowering A1C (average measure of a patient’s blood sugar levels over the past three months), Tresiba was found to be non-inferior to Lantus and Levemir. All three aforementioned insulins are basically the same with the exception of how long the insulin actually last in the body. Tresiba last for over 40 hours as compared to the other two insulins which barely reach the 20-hour mark. Another major difference is the storage of these products. Once opened Lantus and Levemir last for 28 days, while Tresiba last twice as long (56 days). The final difference is the cost of these products. Any of the long-acting insulins are expensive, however Tresiba is slightly more expensive. Tresiba cost roughly $350, while Lantus cost ~$300 and Levemir cost ~$330 (This is the price of 1,000 units of each