A new study has found that a once-weekly insulin injection may be just as effective as daily injections for controlling blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes.
This research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting, shows promising results for a new class of insulin called efsitora alfa (efsitora).
For many people with type 2 diabetes, when oral medications are no longer enough to control blood sugar, insulin therapy is added.
However, one major barrier to sticking with insulin therapy is the need for daily injections, which some patients find inconvenient or uncomfortable.
Efsitora offers a solution, as it only requires one injection per week.
In this study, led by Dr. Carol Wysham from the MultiCare Rockwood Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology in Spokane, WA, the effectiveness of once-weekly efsitora was compared to daily insulin degludec, a common insulin used for diabetes management.
The 52-week trial involved 928 adults with type 2 diabetes who had not yet started insulin but were using oral medications to manage their condition.
Participants were randomly assigned to either the efsitora group or the degludec group. The researchers measured changes in participants’ glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, a key marker of blood sugar control, over the course of the year.
The study found that efsitora was just as effective as degludec at lowering HbA1c levels.
Both groups saw a similar reduction in their HbA1c, with efsitora showing a 1.26% drop and degludec showing a 1.17% drop, demonstrating that efsitora is “noninferior” to daily insulin injections.
Additionally, the study showed that efsitora was equally effective in people using a newer class of diabetes medication called GLP-1 receptor agonists. Importantly, patients who used efsitora spent slightly more time with their blood sugar in the target range compared to those using degludec.
The study also looked at the risk of hypoglycemia (dangerously low blood sugar). While both groups had low rates of hypoglycemia, efsitora had no severe hypoglycemia cases, whereas six were reported with degludec.
The researchers concluded that efsitora could simplify insulin therapy for people with type 2 diabetes, reducing the burden of daily injections. This once-weekly insulin could make it easier for patients to stick to their treatment plans, potentially improving outcomes for many.
Source: Diabetologia.
