Sanofi facing triple threat from Eli Lilly for diabetes treatment market space

The imminent patent expiration of French pharma major Sanofi’s (Euronext: SAN) Lantus (insulin glargine) has opened the door for Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) to increase its share of the diabetes treatment market, and the USA-based company has three big weapons in its pharmaceutical arsenal, says an analyst with research and consulting firm GlobalData.

Valentina Gburcik, GlobalData’s senior analyst covering cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, states that despite Sanofi’s Toujeo (insulin glargine [rDNA origin] injection, 300U/mL), hitting its targets in Phase III trials by showing fewer hypoglycemia events than Lantus, Sanofi will be very wary of the new triple threat posed by its competitor.

“Eli Lilly has seen successful outcomes for its Lantus biosimilar and has exhibited further proof of the superiority of its novel ultra-long-acting insulin in development, peglispro. There have also been impressive results for Eli Lilly’s once-weekly glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist, dulaglutide, which showed superior blood glucose reductions compared with Lantus, as well as accompanying weight loss and a lower risk for hypoglycemia,” the analyst says.