Product attributes
Actrapid is available as vials, cartridges (Penfill) or prefilled pens (NovoLet, InnoLet or FlexPen). Actrapid is used to treat diabetes. Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin to control the blood glucose or when the body is unable to use insulin effectively. Actrapid is a replacement insulin that is very similar to the insulin made by the pancreas.
The active substance in Actrapid, human insulin, is produced by a method known as ‘recombinant technology’: the insulin is made by a yeast that has received a gene (DNA), which makes it able to produce insulin. The replacement insulin acts in same way as naturally produced insulin and helps glucose enter cells from the blood. By controlling the blood glucose, the symptoms and complications of diabetes are reduced.
The CHMP decided that Actrapid’s benefits are greater than its risks and recommended that it be given marketing authorisation.
HbA1c levels remained fairly steady over the six months of treatment with Actrapid.
The medicine can only be obtained with a prescription.
