MONDAY, Sept. 26, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with inadequately controlled, basal insulin-treated type 2 diabetes, a novel, titratable, fixed-ratio combination of insulin glargine (iGlar) and lixisenatide (iGlarLixi) is associated with improvements in glycemic control and reduced body weight, according to a study published online Sept. 20 in Diabetes Care.
Vanita R. Aroda, M.D., from the Medstar Health Research Institute in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues examined the efficacy and safety of iGlarLixi compared with iGlar in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on basal insulin with or without up to two oral glucose-lowering agents. Seven hundred thirty-six basal insulin-treated patients were randomly allocated to open-label once-daily iGlarLixi or iGlar.
The researchers found that during the six-week run-in period there was a decrease in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) from 8.5 to 8.1 percent. Greater reductions in HbA1c from baseline were seen for iGlarLixi versus iGlar after randomization (−1.1 versus −0.6 percent; P < 0.0001), reaching a mean final HbA1c of 6.9 and 7.5 percent for iGlarLixi and iGlar, respectively. Fifty-five and 30 percent of patients on iGlarLixi and iGlar, respectively, reached a final HbA1c <7.0 percent. The change in mean body weight was −0.7 kg with iGlarLixi and +0.7 kg with iGlar, respectively (P < 0.0001).
"iGlarLixi achieved superior improvements in glycemic control, with beneficial effects on body weight, no additional risk of hypoglycemia compared with iGlar, and a low rate of gastrointestinal adverse effects," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi, which manufactures lixisenatide and funded the study.
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