Lilly has launched its latest in the HumaPen range, the Savvio. It’s been engineered to resemble a small personal accessory rather than a medical device and has been designed following feedback from people with diabetes who wanted to manage their diabetes discreetly. The market research took place in six countries. The research team spent a day-in-the life with patients in their own homes to gather real-life understanding of how they use their insulin devices and the challenges they face.
The HumaPen Savvio is easy to dial and dose and features smooth glide force an easy-to-use cartridge holder. It comes in blue, graphite, green, silver, pink and red and is available for use with Lilly’s 3ml insulin cartridges, which include the Humalog and Humulin brands of insulin and doses from 1 to 60 units in one-unit increments (a half-unit option may come later). It comes with an insufficient remaining dose feature that prevents the user from dialing more units than those remaining in the cartridge. The cartridge chancing mechanism is also easier – just twist and click. It fits any brand of pen needle.
“I want my patients to feel confident about managing their condition and being able to get on with everyday living,” says Susan Stockley, Lead Diabetes Specialist Nurse from East Surrey Hospital. “People with diabetes handle their devices every day and to some, the device reminds them that they are on important medication and ‘different’. This new insulin pen blends in with their accessories and feels personalised, plus the size means they can be more discreet when administering.”
The designer of the pen, Stuart Garvin, is an industrial engineer and is responsible for the look, feel and actions of the pen – for example, the injection mechanism has an improved, smoother injection force. “You can stick it in a jacket pocket, and no one would know it’s a medical device. It’s lighter than its predecessor, the action is smoother when delivering the insulin and it’s more accurate. We’ve used darker inks and added a red dot indicator to help people give the correct dose. These small but significant improvements. They’re also highly durable.”
Lilly still provides prefilled pens, but for those who ‘think green’, then these reusable pens are designer to last up to six years with far less impact on the environment. “These really are lovely,” says Stockley, “there’s a choice of colours and they’re really ‘touchable’. It feels more of a quality product and looks less medical.”
It even comes in a rather snazzy box, so that – like any quality purchase – the experience is a joy from the point of opening the box. “There are elements of pleasure all the way through,” says Garvin, “the only problem is you might have some problems choosing which colour to go for.”
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