Insulin analog commonly available is in the table below. Mostly, you need to use more than one kind to suit your individual requirement.
What is an insulin analog?
Insulin analog is a chemically modified type of insulin to make it act faster or slower than the naturally produced insulin by our body. Development of the insulin that acts faster can be useful in the mealtime and the insulin that acts slower can help to take fewer injections.
Clinical insulin’s (manmade insulin) are prepared mixtures of insulin and other substances, including preservatives. Absorption of the insulin is delayed by adjusting the pH of the solution to reduce the reaction rate. This insulin’s are slight variations of the human insulin molecules, so called as insulin analogues.
They are name so because they are not technically similar to human insulin, but they are analogues and retain its glucose control functionality. These insulin analogues are rapid acting mimic human insulin or slow acting to retain insulin glucose lowering action for a longer time.
The commonly used insulin analogues are Fast-acting, Short-acting, Intermediate-acting, Ultra-long acting, and Combination insulin.
Available Insulin analogs
Below tables provides details about the insulin analog and its different working times, discussed with your health care provider and choose the one or combination that best suits your individual need.
Insulin type | Brand name | Generic name | Onset | Peak | Duration (Hours) |
Rapid acting | NovoLog Apidra Humalog | Insulin aspart Insulin glulisine Insulin lispro | 15 min. | 30 - 90 mins | 3 - 5 |
Short acting | Humulin R Novolin R | Regular (R) | 30 - 60 mins | 2 - 4 hrs | 5 - 8 |
Intermediate acting | Humulin N Novolin N | NPH (N) | 1 - 3 hrs | 8 hrs | 12 - 16 |
Long acting | Levemir Lantus | Insulin detemir Insulin glargine | 1 hr | No Peak | 20 - 26 |
Premixed NPH (intermediate-acting) and regular (short-acting) | Humulin 70/30 Novolin 70/30 Humulin 50/50 | 70% NPH and 30% regular 50% NPH and 50% regular | 30 - 60 mins | Varies | 10 - 16 |
Premixed insulin lispro protamine suspension (intermediate-acting) and insulin lispro (rapid-acting) | Humalog Mix 75/25 Humalog Mix 50/50 | 75% insulin lispro protamine & 25% insulin lispro 50% insulin lispro protamine & 50% insulin lispro | 10 - 15 mins | Varies | 10 - 16 |
Premixed insulin aspart protamine suspension (intermediate-acting) and insulin aspart (rapid-acting) | NovoLog Mix 70/30 | 70% insulin aspart protamine & 30% insulin aspart | 5 - 15 mins | Varies | 10 - 16 |