New uses and formulations of glucagon for hypoglycaemia

Abstract

Hypoglycaemia is the more frequent complication of insulin therapy and the main barrier to tight glycaemic control. Injectable glucagon and oral intake of carbohydrates are the recommended treatments for severe and non-severe hypoglycaemia episodes, respectively. Nasal glucagon is currently being developed as a ready-to-use device, to simplify severe hypoglycaemia rescue. Stable forms of liquid glucagon could open the field for different approaches for mild to moderate hypoglycaemia treatment, such as mini-doses of glucagon or continuous subcutaneous glucagon infusion as a part of dual-hormone closed-loop systems. Pharmaceutical companies are developing stable forms of native glucagon or glucagon analogues for that purpose.

Keywords

• type 1 diabetes
• glucagon
• nasal glucagon
• hypoglycaemia
• dual-hormone artificial pancreas
• exercise
• mini-dose glucagon
• injectable glucagon