AstraZeneca reported that a late-stage trial came up with positive results in reducing blood sugar for those with diabetes that was not controlled by other means.
Results from the Phase 3 trial indicated that a once-a-week injected dose of Bydureon combined with the company’s Farxiga once daily pill reduced blood sugar by a significant amount. The trial came on patients with type 2 diabetes that is inadequately controlled on metformin 1.
The results were presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Munich, Germany, and simultaneously published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.1
Serge A. Jabbour, professor of medicine, director of the Division of Endocrinology and director of the Diabetes Center at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, said: “Because of the progressive nature of type 2 diabetes, patients often require multiple anti-diabetic medicines to achieve and maintain glycemic control. The results show that combining medicines that work in different ways can significantly reduce HbA1c, as well as weight and systolic blood pressure.”
Secondary effects for the trial included changes in body weight and systolic blood pressure that included:
- Significantly greater body weight reduction.
- Significantly greater systolic blood pressure reduction.
This combination of products is not FDA approved, and neither product is approved for weight loss or the treatment of hypertension.
The combination of exenatide once-weekly and dapagliflozin exhibited similar rates of adverse events and serious adverse events to the individual medicine treatment groups. The most common adverse events were diarrhea, injection site nodule, nausea and urinary tract infection.
AstraZeneca employed 2,100 in Delaware at last report.
