Novo Nordisk’s insulin icodec has demonstrated positive results as a once-weekly treatment for adults with type 2 diabetes, according to new data from a phase 3a trial presented by the company at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting.
Insulin icodec is a novel once-weekly basal insulin analogue designed to cover the basal insulin requirements for a full week with a single subcutaneous injection. Currently, the basal insulin products with the longest duration are injected once daily.
Dr Athena Philis-Tsimikas, Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, California, and principal investigator of the phase 3a ONWARDS 2 trial, said: “Once-weekly insulin would be a remarkable step forward in insulin innovation.
“It could offer people with type 2 diabetes reduced treatment complexity and burden by reducing the number of basal insulin injections from 365 to 52 per year, without compromising management of blood sugar.”
The trial achieved its primary endpoint of demonstrating non-inferiority in reducing HbA1c at week 26 with once-weekly insulin icodec compared with once-daily insulin degludec.
From a mean baseline of 8.17% (icodec) and 8.10% (degludec), once-weekly insulin icodec achieved a superior reduction in estimated HbA1c of 0.93% compared with 0.71% for insulin degludec, the company reported.
Moreover, trial participants reported ‘significantly greater satisfaction’ in favour of once-weekly insulin icodec compared with insulin degludec at 26 weeks as assessed by the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ).
Critically, once-weekly insulin icodec appeared to have a safe and well-tolerated profile, with less than one hypoglycaemic event per patient-year exposed for insulin icodec and insulin degludec.
More than 4.9 million people in the UK have diabetes, around 90% of which have type 2 diabetes, according to Diabetes UK. There is currently no cure for type 2 diabetes, with current treatment options focused on disease management, including diet and exercise, diabetes medications or insulin therapy.
Commenting on the positive results, Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president, development, Novo Nordisk, said: “We are very pleased to see the promising results from the ONWARDS programme so far.
“The patient-reported outcomes data we see in ONWARDS 2 further strengthen our belief that insulin icodec has the potential to become the ideal insulin for people living with type 2 diabetes initiating insulin treatment.”