Lilly Launches Trulicity in the US – First Ever Ready-to-Use Once-Weekly GLP-1 Receptor Agonist
Twitter summary: @LillyDiabetes launches Trulicity in the US – first ready-to-use once-weekly GLP-1, available w/savings program for commercially insured
On November 10, Eli Lilly and company announced that Trulicity (dulaglutide) is now available in the US, making it the first ready-to-use once weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist to reach the market (no mixing required). Trulicity received FDA approval in September for adults with type 2 diabetes. Lilly is offering a cost-saving program with the Trulicity Savings Card, which will allow commercially insured patients to pay as little as $25 per month out of pocket for up to two years. For more information on Trulicity’s clinical trial results or safety information, please see our past new now next in diaTribe #69 or the drug label here.
Trulicity is available in 0.75 and 1.5 mg doses, both administered via a single-dose “auto-injector” that hides the needle from sight. We had a chance to test out the pen at the recent EASD Conference in Vienna and found it super user-friendly. To take Trulicity, users take the cap off of the pen, twist one end to unlock, and then place the flat end of the pen to their skin. With the push of a single button, the pen inserts a previously hidden needle into the skin, administers the injection in a couple of seconds, and then withdraws the needle back into the device. Very fast and easy! The other currently available once-weekly GLP-1 agonists in the US – Astra Zeneca’s Bydureon (exenatide) and GSK’s Tanzeum (albiglutide) – require a “reconstitution” process that takes time to prepare before use. The Trulicity design improves convenience, particularly for anyone with “needle-phobia,” and raises the bar for effective GLP-1 agonist delivery – we think many will start taking GLP-1 as a result of the launch. –MV/AJW
