Bovine insulin is to be discontinued by its manufacturer Eli Lilly in the US next month but CP Pharmaceuticals hopes to meet the demand of the US market without compromising UK supplies.
The CP bovine insulin range has not been licensed for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but the company is already supplying some US patients on a compassionate use basis, according to Mr Charles Savage (chief executive, CP Pharmaceuticals). Attempts by the company to obtain US approval for its bovine insulins were thwarted recently, as the FDA asked for a series of human and laboratory studies that would impose a "potentially disastrous" financial burden on a company of the size of CP.
Mr Savage said that to meet the demands of an estimated 100,000 US diabetic patients, the company would need to increase its output five-fold but he was confident that this could be achieved using the company's current facilities. Mr Savage added that CP would try to ensure that UK supplies remained unaffected. The UK demand was already known and sufficient stocks would be put aside for this to be covered, he said.
Mr Derek Anthony (corporate affairs, Eli Lilly) told The Journal on November 24 that Eli Lilly made the decision to discontinue its mixed beef/pork insulin (Iletin I) in the US because of decreased demand for the product. However, purified pork insulin (Iletin II) would continue to be available.