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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (752)	9/8/1998 6:19:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Lilly to Introduce New, More Effective Insulin Mix Next Year Bloomberg News September 8, 1998, 3:19 p.m. ET Lilly to Introduce New, More Effective Insulin Mix Next Year Barcelona, Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Eli Lilly & Co., the world's No. 2 maker of diabetes treatments, will next year introduce a new form of insulin which studies show is more effective and easier to use than existing treatments. Researchers at the 34th meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes said the new product, HumalogMix 25, reduces the peak level of glucose, or blood sugar, that occurs in diabetics after meals by a third more than existing treatments. Diabetics take the hormone insulin to help them process glucose. ''Studies show the product is not only more effective, it's also more convenient to use'' because it can be injected shortly before or after meals, said Rudolf Prager, an Austrian diabetes specialist at the University of Vienna. The new product, to be introduced in Europe next year and in the U.S. in 2000, will compete with Novo Nordisk A/S's Novolin and Lilly's own Humulin. Novo of Denmark controls 50 percent of the world's insulin market, compared with Lilly's 45 percent. Hoechst AG also sells insulin products. Shares of Indianapolis-based Lilly, the world's 10th biggest drugmaker, rose 2 1/16 to 73 in recent trading. Analysts say the battle for a piece of the $2.5 billion diabetes market is heating up as the disease claims more victims and traditional treatments, such as insulin, come under pressure from a new generation of drugs. Diabetes, a chronic disorder characterized by the body's inability to properly regulate glucose levels, is becoming more prevalent because of fattier diets and sedentary lifestyles. The worldwide market for Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, will almost triple in size by 2004 to an estimated $7 billion, according to analysts at Societe Generale. Lilly's new product mixes 25 percent of the company's fast- acting genetically-engineered insulin, known as Humalog, with 75 percent of a slower-acting compound. Currently, the most widely used treatments contain 30 percent of human insulin -- which also acts quickly -- and 70 percent of a longer-acting natural insulin, said Veikko Koivisto, who directs endocrine research at Lilly in Europe. Researchers estimate premixed formulas of fast and slow acting insulin, also sold by Hoechst AG of Germany, make up 40 percent of all insulin sales. --Marthe Fourcade in Barcelona through the Washington newsroom