New data backs promise of long-acting Sanofi insulin

An improved version of Sanofi's diabetes drug Lantus is better than the old one at controlling blood sugar levels and comes with fewer hypoglycemic events, new late-stage trial data showed on Tuesday. The treatment is one of several drugs Sanofi is betting on to defend its No.2 spot on the world's $42 billion diabetes market as its superstar product Lantus, the world's most prescribed insulin, will lose patent protection by 2015. It is similar to Novo Nordisk's Tresiba (degludec), also in development. Analysts expect Sanofi to seek regulatory approval for U300 in the United States and Europe next year and for the drug to reach global sales of $872 million by 2017, according to forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters Cortellis.