The Indian-arm of French company Sanofi has brought out a re-usable insulin delivery pen completely “Made-in-India”.
It took three years to develop the indigenously made device sold under the AllStar brand name, designed on the feed back of people in India, said Shailesh Ayyangar, Sanofi India’s Managing Director and Vice-President.
Priced at Rs 650 per pen, the device is pegged at about 20 per cent less than other similar products in the market, he added.
A person with diabetes could use the pen-shaped device by fitting it with a cartridge of Sanofi’s insulin and injecting themselves.
There are queries for AllStar from South-East Asian and African markets, he said, and a regulatory pathway is being worked out to sell in these markets.
India is estimated to have about 64 million people with diabetes.
The product has been designed in-keeping with the specific needs of the local market, he said. The device will be made in Gujarat.
For the Rs 2,000-crore Sanofi India, about Rs 400 crore comes from its diabetes portfolio comprising orally consumed drugs and insulin.
Outlining the features of the device, Volker Korger, Sanofi’s Head - Diabetes Device Projects (Frankfurt), said the device was the slimmest, shortest and lightest of pens available in India.
The device is the outcome of a multi-country venture, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Taiwan and India, he said.
One of the key features of the device is that it allowsaccurate doses of insulin to be administered to the person, he explained.
Shashank Joshi, Consultant Endocrinologist at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital, pointed out the disturbing feature of India having an increasing number of Type 1, or juvenile diabetes.
Of the Type II variety, acquired due to lifestyle, stress and so on, only 10 per cent of those who need insulin are on it, he observed.
The new light pen will help overcome the fear of the injection, as the poke with the ultra fine needle is less than a mosquito bite, he added.