Study Shows Lilly's Dulaglutide On Par With Rival Victoza
Eli Lilly and Company announced positive top-line results for its investigational diabetes drug dulaglutide trial. Data from the late stage study showed that the drug is on par with rival diabetes treatment Victoza by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk.
The sixth AWARD (Assessment of Weekly AdministRation of LY2189265 in Diabetes) trial assessed the once-weekly dulaglutide as treatment for type 2 diabetes. The drug achieved its primary endpoint of non-inferiority to once daily liraglutide (marketed under brand name Victoza) 1.8 mg as measured by the reduction of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) from baseline at 26 weeks in patients.
Enrique Conterno, President of Lilly Diabetes, said, “Dulaglutide is the only GLP-1 agonist to show non-inferiority against liraglutide's highest-approved dose in a Phase III trial. The AWARD-6 data, along with the previous five AWARD studies, give us confidence that dulaglutide can be an important treatment option for people with type 2 diabetes. If approved, dulaglutide would be the only GLP-1 agonist that is both once-weekly and ready-to-use.”
Dulaglutide is an investigational, long-acting glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist which works by increasing release of insulin after meals and then slowing absorption of food in the gastrointestinal tract. The drug is considered one of the critical medicines in the company’s pipeline. Eli Lilly is developing dulaglutide to expand its diabetes products portfolio which includes insulins Humalog and Humulin.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and affects 90 to 95% of all diabetes cases. Approximately 25.8 million Americans and an estimated 382 million people around the world suffer from type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
The company plans to present detailed data from the AWARD-6 (dulaglutide vs. liraglutide) trial together with AWARD-2 (dulaglutide vs. insulin glargine) and AWARD-4 (dulaglutide vs. insulin glargine, both in combination with insulin lispro) studies at upcoming scientific meetings in 2014.
Source:
https://investor.lilly.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=828056
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/us-lilly-diabetes-idUSBREA1O0UL20140225