Eli Lilly and Company announced the availability of a smaller vial of insulin containing 3 mL (300 units), the first such vial in the United States. A typical vial of insulin contains 10 mL, or 1,000 “units” of insulin.
Lilly developed this new smaller vial for use in hospitals based on feedback regarding the average duration of patient hospital stays. The new vials are intended to provide hospitals more flexibility when evaluating insulin storage, delivery and distribution options.
Lilly will begin providing the new smaller vial of Humalog® and Humulin® R-U100 to hospitals in January 2010. The company will also continue to provide the traditional 10 mL insulin vial, as well as additional delivery options for hospital patients, including Humalog® KwikPen(TM), a pen injection device that comes prefilled with Humalog insulin, and the original Humalog prefilled pen.
