Approved by the FDA just yesterday was Novo Nordisk’s new insulin injection formulation referred to as FIAsp, for Faster-acting Insulin Aspart. Insulin Aspart is Novo’s rapid insulin analog, and the even faster action comes from adding a couple of common compounds:

Fiasp^® is a new, faster acting mealtime insulin, developed by Novo Nordisk with the objective of achieving a faster initial absorption, to improve glycemic control after a meal, in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.  Fiasp^® is insulin aspart, a molecule with more than 17 years of clinical experience,¹¹ in an innovative formulation, in which two excipients have been added, Vitamin B3 (niacinamide) to increase the speed of absorption, and a naturally occurring Amino Acid (L-Arginine) for stability.

So, they add B3, or niacin, a vasodilator, and an amino acid into the mix. This is said to both speed insulin uptake and to sustain insulin uptake so that if you take insulin right before, or even after beginning eating, you’ll have superior results. The light blue line in the graph is FIAsp. If this is typical and real-world, we’re impressed.

We figure this same technique could improve results with Lilly’s Humalog and even with Novolin and Humulin. No doubt this new insulin will sell at a premium at first versus Novolog, but maybe that will actually suppress the prices of the currently-used insulins. We’re watching for similar progress on Adocia’s BioChaperone technique, which is likewise translatable to a variety of insulins. Combining these known techniques, significant gains may be had in just the next two years or so.