Diabetes: how once-a-week insulin is changing the lives of over a million Italians
The new drug was approved on 10 June by Aifa and our country was the first in Europe to make the therapy reimbursable
Key points
Insulin with weekly instead of daily administration has represented a real revolution in the treatment of diabetes. For patients treated with the new molecule Icodec, injections are reduced from 365 a year to 52. In Italy, the new drug was approved on 10 June by the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa) and our country was the first in Europe to make the therapy available and reimbursable. This is an opportunity that currently affects around one million 300 thousand people, mainly with type 2 diabetes, and which entails an improvement in quality of life, potentially greater therapeutic adherence, and also a benefit in terms of reduced environmental impact.
On the occasion of World Diabetes Day, which is celebrated on 14 November, the Fand - Associazione Diabetici Italiani (Italian Diabetic Association), founded in 1982 and widely present with 110 branches throughout the country and 35,000 members, takes stock of this evolution in available therapies.
'The introduction of the new molecule,' emphasises Manuela Bertaggia, president of Fand, 'is the result of the ongoing commitment to innovation in the treatment of diabetes. The partnership established between institutions, scientific societies and associations is crucial to ensure that the new therapies reach patients quickly. It is a significant step: it offers more flexible management of the disease. It is a concrete response for people living with diabetes that can help improve therapeutic adherence and help reduce the psychological burden associated with chronic disease and also the burden of caregivers of older and dependent patients'.
Access to innovative care
Pharmacological innovation makes it possible to offer the NHS and the Regions an effective tool for tackling an important public health challenge in dealing with a chronic disease that is constantly on the rise. But - say the associations representing patients - fair and fast access to the new therapy must be guaranteed throughout Italy, without differences between regions. 'The new molecule,' says President Bertaggia, 'has been enthusiastically welcomed by patients and clinicians. Currently, the number of people to whom the new drug can be prescribed is one million 300 thousand, but it will certainly increase. This is because it is estimated that there are around five million diabetics in Italy and many people are unaware that they are diabetic. In addition, the molecule is mainly used to treat type 2 diabetes, a form characterised by residual insulin production, but could in the future be extended more widely to patients with type 1, which requires greater control by medical personnel precisely because insulin production is nil'.
As is always the case, changes like this may meet with some resistance due to organisational, bureaucratic and cultural issues, but according to Fand the start has been positive. 'We carried out an initial survey to see where the prescription of the drug started in a widespread manner,' he continues. 'There was great expectation and in most regions it was made available quickly. The start-up was a little more difficult in Sardinia and Sicily, from what we have heard, but we are confident that soon access to the new therapy will no longer have any obstacles either in terms of prescriptions or in terms of knowledge on the part of specialists. In some regions, the treatment plan is necessary, but this is understandable because they have to keep pharmaceutical expenditure under control'.
