Table 4.

Insulin type and pharmacokinetics.

Drug class: generic (trade name)	Onset	Peak effect	Duration
Rapid acting analogs
Lispro (Humalog®)	5–15 min	30–90 min	4–6 h
Aspart (Novolog® Novorapid®)	5–15 min	30–90 min	4–6 h
Glulisin (Apidra®)	5–15 min	30–90 min	4–6 h
Short action
Regular (Novolin R® Humulin®)	30–60 min	2–4 h	6–8 h
Intermediate action
NPH (Novolin N® Humulin N®)	2–4 h	4–10 h	10–16 h
Insulin zincica (Lente®)	2–4 h	4–10 h	12–20 h
Extended zinc insulin (Ultralente®)	6–10 h	10–16 h	18–24 h
Long/basal action
Glargine (Lantus®)	2–4 h	None	20–24 h
Detemir (Levemir®)	2–4 h	None	20–24 h
Degludec (Tresiba®)	2–4 h	None	≥42 h
Pre-mixed (NPH + regular)
70% NPH/30% regular (Novolin 70/30®, Humulin 70/30®)	30–90 min	Dual	10–16 h
50% NPH/50% regular (Humulin 50/50®)	30–90 min	Dual	10–16 h
Pre-mixed (intermediate-acting + short-acting analogs)
70% Aspart Protamine suspension/30% Aspart (Novolog mix 70/30®)	5–15 min	Dual	10–16 h
75% Lispro Protamine suspension/25% Lispro (Humalog mix 75/25®)	5–15 min	Dual	10–16 h
50% Lispro Protamine suspension/50% Lispro (Humalog mix 50/50®)	5–15 min	Dual	10–12 h

Adapted from Ref. 17.