Comparing the Efficacy and Safety of Weekly Insulin Efsitora vs. Daily Insulin Degludec in Managing Type 2 Diabetes
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Reviewed by Dat Tien Nguyen, B.A, ScM.
Translated by Nhi Phuong Quynh Le, B.A |
Posted on January 22nd, 2025
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When traditional glucose-lowering medications are no longer effective at controlling blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, insulin injections are used. However, the daily administration of insulin degludec can be challenging, and reducing the frequency of injections may improve treatment adherence. Insulin efsitora is a novel agent with a longer half-life. Eli Lilly funded a study to compare the effectiveness of once-weekly insulin efsitora to the current once-daily insulin degludec in managing blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The phase 3 clinical trial involved 928 adult participants with an average age of 57.4 years, all diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Baseline assessments showed a mean body mass index of 30.58, a glycated hemoglobin level of 8.22%, and a fasting serum glucose level of 163.70 mg/dL. The participants had been living with type 2 diabetes for an average of 11.6 years. More than 80% were using metformin, half were on a GLP-1 receptor agonist, and a third were treated with either an SGLT2 inhibitor or sulfonylurea. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either daily subcutaneous injections of 10 U insulin degludec or weekly subcutaneous injections of 100 U insulin efsitora. For those in the weekly treatment group, an initial dose of 300 U was given to achieve the effective dose of insulin efsitora. After 52 weeks of treatment, the researchers found that weekly subcutaneous injections of insulin efsitora reduced glycated hemoglobin by an average of 1.26%, which was comparable to the 1.17% reduction seen with daily insulin degludec injections. Additionally, there was no significant difference in the risk of hypoglycemic episodes between the two insulin regimens. Given the growing use of GLP-1 receptor agonists, the researchers also investigated their interaction with insulin efsitora and found that the combination neither reduced the efficacy of insulin efsitora nor increased the risk of hypoglycemia.
The phase 3 clinical trial involved 928 adult participants with an average age of 57.4 years, all diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Baseline assessments showed a mean body mass index of 30.58, a glycated hemoglobin level of 8.22%, and a fasting serum glucose level of 163.70 mg/dL. The participants had been living with type 2 diabetes for an average of 11.6 years. More than 80% were using metformin, half were on a GLP-1 receptor agonist, and a third were treated with either an SGLT2 inhibitor or sulfonylurea. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either daily subcutaneous injections of 10 U insulin degludec or weekly subcutaneous injections of 100 U insulin efsitora. For those in the weekly treatment group, an initial dose of 300 U was given to achieve the effective dose of insulin efsitora. After 52 weeks of treatment, the researchers found that weekly subcutaneous injections of insulin efsitora reduced glycated hemoglobin by an average of 1.26%, which was comparable to the 1.17% reduction seen with daily insulin degludec injections. Additionally, there was no significant difference in the risk of hypoglycemic episodes between the two insulin regimens. Given the growing use of GLP-1 receptor agonists, the researchers also investigated their interaction with insulin efsitora and found that the combination neither reduced the efficacy of insulin efsitora nor increased the risk of hypoglycemia.