The FDA just approved a new form of insulin (NOVO)

(Reuters) – The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Novo Nordisk’s fast-acting insulin to treat diabetes.

The product, known as Fiasp, is designed to help diabetics control post-meal spikes in blood sugar. It is already approved in Canada and Europe.

Fiasp will have the same list price as NovoLog, Novo’s own fast-acting insulin that got approved in 2000. Novo said in a news release that it’ll be providing savings cards to patients that are eligible to help with co-pays.

Fiasp, or faster acting insulin asparte, is designed to work faster than existing fast-acting insulin such as Eli Lilly and Co’s Humalog and NovoLog, known as NovoRapid outside the United States. Last year the FDA declined to approve the product and requested additional information.

Diabetes is a group of conditions in which the body can’t properly regulate blood sugar that affects roughly 30 million people in the US. For many people living with diabetes — including the 1.25 million people in the US who have type-1 diabetes — injecting insulin is part of the daily routine.

And the prices of those insulins have been rising — increases that mean some people are spending as much on monthly diabetes-related expenses astheir mortgage payment. It’s led some people living with diabetes toturn to the black market,crowdfunding pages, and Facebook pages to get access to the life-saving drug.

(Reuters reporting by Toni Clarke)