Weekly insulin injections can control type 1 and type 2 diabetes just as well as daily shots, according to two new studies.
Two phase 3 trials presented Tuesday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Madrid showed that insulin efsitora alfa, a new class of diabetes medication designed to be injected once a week, was safe and effective in both forms of the disease
A study using the drug in type 2 diabetes was published on Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, while results from the type 1 trial were published the same day in The Lancet.
Both trials lasted for a year and involved randomly assigning people to take either efsitora or degludec, a long-acting form of insulin.
“A once-weekly insulin has the potential to simplify dose administration and diminish barriers to starting insulin therapy,” Carol Wysham, MD, an author in the type 2 trial and an endocrinologist with the MultiCare Rockwood Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology in Spokane, Washington, said in a statement.
In that trial, conducted with 928 people with type 2 diabetes, researchers found that efsitora regulated A1C levels (a marker of blood sugar) as effectively as degludec.
“Traditionally, basal insulins are dosed once a day — a treatment schedule that can make compliance difficult for a significant portion of people living with type 2 diabetes,” Wysham said in a statement released by Eli Lilly, the company that makes the medication. “Efsitora has the potential to address treatment burden and improve adherence — all while lowering A1C. These results can make a significant impact for people living with type 2 diabetes looking for a once-weekly option that provides similar outcomes as daily insulins.”
In the second trial, which included 623 people with type 1 diabetes, researchers also found that taking efsitora weekly was as effective as taking degludec daily. Hypoglycemia occurred more often (in 10% of people) with type 1 diabetes than in people taking degludec (3%), the data showed. Hypoglycemia was more likely to occur in the first 12 weeks of treatment. The authors noted that these results “might suggest the need for additional evaluation of efsitora dose initiation and optimisation in people with type 1 diabetes.”
