New Drug for Diabetics

[Wayne Renardson]

Aventis SA, the world's No. 2 drugmaker, today won U.S. Food and Drug
Administration approval for a long-acting form of insulin, allowing the
company to better complete with Eli Lilly & Co. in the $3-billion-plus
worldwide insulin market. The drug, called insulin glargine, will be
sold as Lantus. The product is slightly different than human insulin and
is designed to be distributed more slowly, so patients will need only
one dose a day. `They're building a nice diabetes franchise with
short-and long-acting insulin and another drug called Amaryl', said Eric
Le Berrigaud, an analyst at Natexis Capital in Paris.

Insulin helps the body process sugar. In diabetics, the hormone is
missing or poorly used, requiring many patients to inject insulin to
maintain blood sugar levels. Without regulation of insulin, diabetics
are at risk for kidney problems, blindness, amputation and death.