Emerging Insulin Analogues: A Glimpse into How Insulin Analogues May Look in the near Future

Abstract

The use of insulin as a treatment for diabetes mellitus has been marred by several challenges. These setbacks incurred in an attempt to better manage diabetes, together with past innovative strategies, have encouraged science and the clinical community to continue to endeavour for an ideal insulin analogue that demonstrates heightened pharmacokinetic profiles and thermal stability. This review therefore seeks to provide an update on emerging insulin analogues. This review aims to update the science and clinical community of the recent developments on novel insulin analogues design and engineering. Through this exercise, we believe this review consolidates cutting-edge innovations on insulin development and diabetes management. The accelerated innovation of design and engineering in the biotechnology and peptide field has seen more insulin analogues reported in the last decade. Although the analogues are often limited to preclinical studies, Degludec, Icodec, and Efsitora have been the exceptions. The emerging insulin analogues include those with extended pharmacokinetic profile, increased thermostability, are glucose-responsive, and are hepato-preferential insulin analogues. Due to the fast pace of innovation in the design of insulin analogues, more insulin analogues are likely to emerge in the clinical space in the near future. Such innovations should be applauded and encouraged as they aim to strive for better management of diabetes mellitus.