At the 48th annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) this week in Berlin, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, and Eli Lilly announced data from three analyses for linagliptin, a new type 2 diabetes treatment.
The studies found that linagliptin lowered hemoglobin A1C in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes and adults with type 2 diabetes and renal disease. A1C provides an index of blood glucose control for the previous two to three months in people with diabetes. The companies stated that a fourth study found that adding linagliptin to basal insulin improved blood glucose control without an extra risk for hypoglycemia or weight gain, when compared to a placebo.
Linagliptin is marketed in the U.S. as Tradjenta. It is a once-daily treatment that has been shown to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.
“We are committed to developing and providing therapeutic solutions, such as linagliptin, for adult patients with type 2 diabetes,” said Dr. Christophe Arbet-Engels, vice president for the metabolic-clinical development and medical affairs division at Boehringer Ingelheim. “We look forward to continuing our ongoing clinical trial program to assess how linagliptin may address the various needs of these patients.”
One of the analyses pooled data from seven phase three trials covering 1,331 patients. It showed that patients who used linagliptin alone or with other glucose-lowering therapies had a reduction in A1C of 0.62% at 24 weeks in elderly patients (those over 65 years old).
Another post-hoc analysis showed that elderly patients treated with linagliptin showed a “significant reduction” in urinary albumin-to-creatine ratio, which measures glomerular integrity for patients with diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage).
The third study looked at non-elderly patients treated with linagliptin and found a 0.53% reduction in A1C after 52 weeks.