Lilly diabetes drug beats rivals
pharmafile | June 25, 2013 | News story | Sales and Marketing | BMS, diabetes, dulaglutide, lilly
New clinical trial results have shown Lilly’s investigational type 2 diabetes drug has beaten its three nearest rivals in reducing blood sugar.
The drug, a GLP-1 receptor agonist called dulaglutide, was better at helping patients keep their blood sugar level low compared to Bristol-Myers Squibb’s diabetes treatment Byetta, generic metformin and Merck’s blockbuster pill Januvia.
Data for the one-weekly treatment were presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting in Chicago this week. Lilly says it plans to use data from the trials as part of the marketing application for dulaglutide in the US, which it expects to file later this year.
In the three studies dulaglutide 1.5mg was superior to placebo and to Byetta, metformin and Januvia in reducing HbA1c (haemoglobin A1c) levels.
In addition, a greater percentage of patients treated with dulaglutide 1.5mg achieved an HbA1c goal of less than 7% versus all active comparators.
The findings from three late-stage studies suggest Lilly’s drug could be a potential blockbuster with these levels of efficacy against potential rivals.
“Dulaglutide not only demonstrated superior glycaemic control in these Phase III trials, it provided this control with once-weekly dosing, which may be attractive to both patients and healthcare professionals,” said Guillermo Umpierrez, professor of medicine, division of endocrinology, metabolism, Emory University School of Medicine.
If Lilly’s new treatment is approved, it would have to compete with Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drug Victoza, which was not used in the head-to-head trials, but would likely be its nearest competitor.
GLP-1 drugs mimic a natural hormone that helps the body produce more insulin, in turn helping reduce sugar in the blood, high levels of which can harm patients in the long-term.
Merck’s Januvia, which is taken as a pill, works differently to Byetta, Victoza and dulaglutide as it is a DPP-4 inhibitor. It is, however, currently the biggest selling single type 2 diabetes drug, making over $4 billion for the firm last year.
“These results are a promising step forward in our effort to provide a new, once-weekly GLP-1 treatment option, giving patients another choice to help manage their diabetes,” said Sherry Martin, senior medical director at Lilly Diabetes.
“Dulaglutide represents an important component of our diabetes portfolio, as it could help us offer a broader range of options to patients across the diabetes spectrum.”
Ben Adams
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