Influx of recombinant insulin and its analogues for management of diabetes in India

Excerpt

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder disease characterized by elevated blood glucose level due to under secretion or non-secretion of insulin from pancreas. Eighty percent of diabetes deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries. India has the largest number of surviving diabetic people followed by China and USA. In India, during the year 2000, the number of surviving diabetic people were 31.7 million and predicted to rise to 79.4 million by 2030 [1]. There are two Indian guidelines for insulin initiation and intensification. As per these guidelines, insulin therapy may be started on the basis of levels of blood sugar and HbaIc determined during fasting and or after meals. Animal insulin was being used for decades, but now, most of the companies are manufacturing biosynthetic human insulin by recombinant DNA technology. As per survey of International Diabetes Federation conducted in its member countries in 2002, the biosynthetic human insulin contributes about 70% portion of the total insulin sold. Since 2006, all insulins distributed in almost all countries are synthetic human insulin or their analogues. …