8
NEWS
Inhaled insulin for diabetes
In a recent clinical trial of adults with
Type 1 diabetes, the inhaled insulin
Afrezza delivered similar HbA1c
reductions compared to usual care,
including multiple daily injections and
automated insulin delivery.
MannKind's Afrezza was launched
in 2015 as the first and only ultra
rapid-acting inhaled insulin. Whereas
most injectable rapid-acting insulins
take about 15 to 20 minutes to start
working, Afrezza starts lowering
blood sugars in about 12 minutes,
although its glucose-lowering effects
also fade a lot quicker than traditional
mealtime insulins.
New research on Afrezza
presented at the 2025 Advanced
Technologies & Treatments for
Diabetes (ATTD) conference showed
that inhaled insulin delivered better
reductions in HbA1c and post-meal
blood sugar, compared to injected
rapid-acting insulin in adults
with Type 1 diabetes. However,
although some participants showed
improvements in HbA1c and time
in range, others showed substantial
worsening in glycaemic control.
"This therapy isn't for everybody,
but for many patients it was
spectacular," said Dr. Irl Hirsch,
a professor at the University of
Washington School of Medicine who
worked on the clinical trial research.
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Roche CGM production hub
Roche has announced that it plans
to invest up to $550m to expand
its continuous glucose monitoring
(CGM) site in the US. The company
plans to invest in its Diagnostics
site in Indianapolis in a project
to make the site a major hub for
manufacturing its CGM systems.
Roche says that its Indianapolis
campus houses key operations,
including R&D, labs, manufacturing,
distribution, IT and administrative
functions. It currently produces
approximately 5.2bn Accu-Chek
diabetes test strips annually.
The company expects the
expansion to generate hundreds of
highly skilled manufacturing jobs and
thousands of construction jobs.
Abbott & Medtronic - a first!
Medtronic submits its first
interoperable insulin pump proposal
to FDA to advance collaboration
with Abbott. FDA clearance would
enable its insulin delivery system to
be integrated with a non-Medtronic
continuous glucose monitor (CGM)
sensor, that being Abbott's most
advanced platform.
This marks the latest development
in a landmark collaboration
between the two medtech giants.
Last summer, the companies
announced a global partnership
pairing Abbott's FreeStyle Libre
CGMs with Medtronic's automated
insulin delivery technology (the latest
generation being the MiniMed 780G)
and smart insulin pen systems, such
as the InPen system.
Medtronic's systems previously
used its own CGMs, such as the
Guardian 4 and the Simplera
platform, and the company intends
to continue using those systems as
part of a more comprehensive CGM
portfolio.