Novo Nordisk distances itself from Lantus scare

* Says no cancer signals detected with its insulin analogues

* Levemir has different characteristics to Sanofi's Lantus

* Investor call Monday morning

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO: Quote, Profile, Research) distanced itself from a scare over diabetes treatment Lantus on Sunday, pointing out its modern insulin Levemir had different characteristics to Sanofi-Aventis's (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) product.

New studies involving some 300,000 insulin-treated patients across Europe have highlighted a possible link between Sanofi's drug Lantus, or glargine, and cancer. [ID:nLR36465]

The findings are not conclusive but fears that a potential link to cancer will hurt sales of modern, or analogue, insulins have hit shares in both Sanofi and Novo Nordisk.

Lantus and Levemir are both long-acting insulin analogues, but Levemir was launched more recently than Lantus and so was not assessed in the European registry studies.

The Danish company said Levemir was different from Lantus because it does not bind any more than human insulin to the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptor, which is known to be involved in promoting tumour growth.