Aventis Says Rival Novo Insulin Unimpressive

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new long-acting insulin developed by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk should pose little commercial threat to Aventis SA's hot-selling drug Lantus, the chief operating officer of Aventis said on Thursday.

Richard Markham said Novo Nordisk has released little clinical data on its rival product, called insulin detemir, which is now awaiting U.S. approval.

"We don't find anything too impressive about the data we've seen on detemir so far. They're trying to paint the best picture they can, but I think they're grasping at straws," Markham said at the Reuters Health Summit in New York.

Markham said sales of detemir would be hobbled, if it is approved, because the majority of patients would have to take it twice a day to control their blood sugar.

By contrast, he said the overwhelming majority of patients only need one injection of Lantus each day because the Aventis drug lasts a full 24 hours.

Lantus, which Aventis launched three years ago for treatment of type I and type II diabetes, saw its sales soar 76 percent in the third quarter to $152 million. Its success hurt the sales growth of older long-acting insulins sold by Eli Lilly & Co. and other drugmakers.

Markham said Lantus could become the Franco-German drugmaker's biggest product.

Annual sales of Lantus should triple to $1.44 billion by 2008, according to market analysis firm Datamonitor.

It is the only new-generation "basal" insulin on the market, meaning one whose levels remain consistent in the body for extended periods.

By being released slowly into the body, Lantus avoids the peaks of insulin that can lead to hypoglycemia - a much-feared consequence of diabetes treatment in which blood sugar drops so low that patients faint or are unable to perform complex tasks.

Lantus had claimed 40 percent of the U.S. market for long-acting insulin drugs by the end of 2002.

Use of insulin for type II, adult-onset diabetes, is increasing and patients are taking insulin at earlier stages of their disease-factors expected to help Lantus.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month told Novo Nordisk detemir is approvable, but not until the company provides the agency more information about the drug's clinical trials. The company has said it will give investors more information in February.

Novo Nordisk was not immediately available for comment, but the company has previously said clinical data indicate detemir has advantages over other diabetes medicines.