Follitropin-beta administered by pen device has superior local tolerance compared with follitropin-alpha administered...

A receiver- and assessor-blind, randomized, single-centre, crossover study was performed in 60 healthy women volunteers, to compare the local tolerance of two recombinant FSH preparations administered by a pen device (delivering 150 IU follitropin-beta) or by conventional syringe (delivering 150 IU follitropin-alpha). Volunteers were randomized to one of two treatment sequences: pen device followed by conventional syringe, or the reverse. Each preparation was injected once, subcutaneously in the umbilical region and local tolerance reactions were assessed within 5 min, at 1 and 24 h after each administration. In addition, subjects were asked to rate the pain experienced during a period of 24 h after each injection by means of a visual analogue scale (VAS). At administration (within 5 min), severe to moderate pain was experienced in 70.0% of subjects injected by the conventional syringe, whereas only 21.7% of subjects treated with the pen device experienced pain. This difference was highly significant (P