New data support use of Novo Nordisk Levemir in children aged two to five

Levemir (insulin detemir), Danish insulin giant Novo Nordisk’s (NVO: N) basal insulin analogue, is an equally efficacious treatment option for two to five year-old children with type 1 diabetes, compared with human basal insulin, but is associated with lower hypoglycaemic risk, according to new clinical trial data just published in Pediatric Diabetes.

No basal insulin analogue is currently recommended for these young children, and Novo Nordisk is now working to update the Levemir label. ”If our application for a label update is successful, Levemir will be the first basal insulin analogue with an indication extended to this very young patient population. It will also be the second Novo Nordisk insulin analogue after NovoRapid that will cover this group,” says Kirstine Brown Frandsen, corporate vice president, Global Medical Affairs at Novo Nordisk.

“Unfortunately, children with type 1 diabetes who are aged under six years have the greatest likelihood of severe hypoglycemia and the highest risk of acute diabetes complications. This is why it is especially important to examine the safety for this very young age group,” says lead investigator Nandu Thalange, of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Norwich, UK.