"Denmark-based global pharma major, Novo Nordisk is now phasing out its Human Mixtard penfill by the year end. However Mixtard in India will continue to be available in vials. Along with it, other form of insulin including human insulin from Novo Nordisk will continue to be available in vials & devices for patients across India.
A recent media report stated ‘Novo Nordisk to discontinue Human Mixtard, India’s largest selling insulin. Human Mixtard pen is under price control and is a Rs. 800 crore brand in India for the company. The phase out could further impact the pharmaceutical's top brands in the Rs. 5,000 crore insulin market including Actrapid, Insulatard, Insulin Detemir, Levemir and Xultophy, which are marketed primarily in the format of pre-filled disposable pen and cartridges (Penfill and FlexPen).’
Post this media report Novo Nordisk has issued an official statement stating, “We wish to clarify that we are not discontinuing Mixtard in India and it will continue to be available in vials. Along with it, other forms of insulin including human insulin from Novo Nordisk will continue to be available in vials and devices for patients across India.”
The company note stated, “Novo Nordisk is committed to deliver medicines that will best serve the greatest number of patients, globally. In order to meet increasing patient demand and ensure a stable supply of our medicines, we have decided to consolidate our insulin portfolio as this will create space needed in our global manufacturing network. Hence, in this process, we are phasing out the penfill.”
We acknowledge that this may be disruptive to people living with diabetes who rely on our treatments. However, by doing this now, we will increase the number of patients we reach with our insulin portfolio by many millions in the next decade, said the company.
With the decision, we strive not to leave any patients without alternative treatment options, either from Novo Nordisk or other companies. It is important to us that the transition to other device or treatment options is as smooth as possible for patients. Accordingly, we are therefore doing everything we can to liaise early with health authorities, support healthcare professionals, trade partners and patients in the transition to other treatments. We will gradually phase it out by the end of this year, said the company note."