WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal health officials have approved a cheaper version of the world’s top-selling insulin from Sanofi for U.S. patients with the most common form of diabetes. The Food and Drug Administration approved a new form of Sanofi’s pen-like injector, called Lantus, from drugmakers Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim. Those companies received tentative FDA approval for their drug in August 2014. But the launch was delayed by a patent dispute with Sanofi. Insulin is crucial for controlling the sugar levels in the blood. People with diabetes either do not produce enough insulin or cannot properly use it. Lantus is the top product for Sanofi and the third best-selling medicine in the world by revenue. British research firm GlobalData says Lantus had sales of $12.4 billion in 2014.
