Gvoke HypoPen Emergency Glucagon Pen Now Available
By Eliza Skoler
The ready-to-use autoinjector emergency glucagon pen is now available for people over the age of two in the US
Xeris’s Gvoke HypoPen is now available in the United States for people over the age of two, with a prescription. The HypoPen can be used to treat severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) emergencies in people with diabetes. Gvoke, ready-to-use glucagon, received FDA approval in 2019; the HypoPen is now the first ready-to-use, premixed, emergency glucagon autoinjector (with no visible needles!).
Historically, glucagon has been challenging to use in an emergency: a caregiver had to successfully mix a powder and liquid and then quickly inject this mixture into the person experiencing severe hypoglycemia. This treatment became much easier to administer last year with the introduction of the Gvoke Pre-Filled Syringe and Baqsimi, a nasal glucagon.
Gvoke HypoPen and Gvoke Pre-Filled Syringe both contain ready-to-use glucagon, but Gvoke HypoPen is an autoinjector. You can learn more about the Gvoke HypoPen and the Gvoke Pre-Filled Syringe here.
Xeris says that currently 78% of people with commercial insurance or Medicare have “unrestricted access” to the HypoPen. To help make the HypoPen affordable for more people, Xeris offers a Gvoke copay savings card and a Patient Assistance Program for those who are eligible. Learn how to get the Gvoke HypoPen here.
What is glucagon? What is severe hypoglycemia?
Glucagon is a hormone responsible for increasing blood sugar levels by signaling to the body that it needs to release stored sugar into the bloodstream. However, glucagon does not always function as it is supposed to. In people with type 1 diabetes in particular, glucagon may not raise blood sugar levels correctly. This leads to dangerously low blood sugar levels (otherwise known as severe hypoglycemia). In a hypoglycemic emergency (where someone is unresponsive, having a seizure, or in a coma), glucagon can be administered to quickly raise the person’s blood glucose levels. People with diabetes who are on insulin or another glucose-lowering medication like sulfonylureas are at the greatest risk of severe hypoglycemia.
