insulin icodec

Insulin icodec is a **once-weekly basal insulin analogue** developed by Novo Nordisk for diabetes mellitus. It is a modified insulin molecule engineered with three amino acid substitutions and a **C20 fatty diacid side chain** that confer strong, reversible albumin binding, reduced insulin receptor affinity, and markedly prolonged clearance, creating a circulating depot that supports a roughly one-week pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile after **subcutaneous injection**. Pharmacologically, it acts as a long-acting **insulin receptor agonist** that provides basal insulin replacement for glycemic control in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Clinical studies cited here include phase 2 and phase 3 ONWARDS trials versus insulin glargine U100 and insulin degludec, showing effective HbA1c lowering with once-weekly dosing and generally low absolute rates of severe hypoglycemia, though some studies reported numerically higher clinically significant hypoglycemia versus daily comparators. The molecule has also been used as the insulin component of the fixed-ratio weekly combination IcoSema, but insulin icodec itself is a single-agent product distinct from that combination.

Brand names

Awiqli

Other names

icodec