"Weekly Insulin" on the Verge of Approval

Sources stated that the preparation has not yet been officially registered, although expectations indicate that the approval procedures will be completed in the near future, without specifying a formal date for this.

They clarified that the registration of new drugs is subject to precise technical and regulatory reviews in accordance with approved regulations, and that such innovative preparations undergo meticulous review processes to verify safety, efficacy, and manufacturing dossiers prior to approval, ensuring compliance with all safety, efficacy, and quality requirements before being included in the national health system and made available to patients.

They added that this move follows the innovative drug’s receipt of official approvals and recognitions from major global pharmaceutical regulatory bodies, foremost among them the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as its approval by several countries including Saudi Arabia, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, China, and others.

Sources noted that this preparation is the first globally approved weekly basal insulin designed to replace daily injections for patients with type 2 diabetes, highlighting that this type of insulin reduces the number of injections a patient receives from seven per week to just one, thereby enhancing patient adherence to treatment plans and improving their quality of life.

The new treatment contains the active substance “insulin icodec” (Insulin Icodec), developed by a Danish company to be the world’s first basal insulin administered as a single weekly dose for adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The new treatment reduces the number of insulin injections from 365 annually to just 52, which may alleviate the psychological and physical burden associated with treatment and encourage better patient adherence, particularly since fear of daily injections is among the primary reasons for delaying the initiation of insulin therapy.