Type 2 diabetes: Semaglutide better than dulaglutide for reducing blood sugar and body weight, study finds
Denmark: In an indirect treatment comparison (ITC), semaglutide 2.0 mg showed significantly greater reductions in blood sugar levels and body weight compared to dulaglutide 3.0 mg and 4.5 mg. The findings of the study, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, provide important information on comparative effectiveness until the availability of randomized head-to-head studies.
Currently, there is no availability of head-to-head data comparing semaglutide 2.0 mg with dulaglutide 3.0 mg or 4.5 mg. James Baker-Knight, Novo Nordisk A/S, Søborg, Denmark, and colleagues, therefore, conducted an ITC of their effects on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and body weight in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients.
For this purpose, they conducted a multilevel network meta-regression (MLNMR) based on a connected evidence network of published results from the AWARD-11 trial and individual patient data (IPD) from the SUSTAIN FORTE and SUSTAIN 7 trials.
Following were the study's key findings:
- Semaglutide 2.0 mg significantly reduced HbA1c versus dulaglutide 3.0 mg and 4.5 mg, with estimated treatment differences (ETD) of –0.44%-points and –0.28%-points respectively.
- Semaglutide 2.0 mg also significantly reduced body weight versus dulaglutide 3.0 mg and 4.5 mg with ETDs of –3.29 kg and –2.57 kg respectively.
- Odds of achieving HbA1c <7.0% were significantly greater for semaglutide 2.0 versus dulaglutide 3.0 mg (odds ratio [OR]: 2.23), while this did not reach significance for semaglutide 2.0 mg versus dulaglutide 4.5 mg (OR: 1.58).
- Sensitivity analyses supported the main analysis findings.
"This ITC showed significantly greater reductions from baseline in HbA1c and body weight with semaglutide 2.0 mg vs dulaglutide 3.0 mg and 4.5 mg," the authors wrote. "The findings provide important comparative effectiveness information until randomized head-to-head studies become available."
Reference:
Ildiko Lingvay, Robert Bauer, James Baker-Knight, Jack Lawson, Richard Pratley, An indirect treatment comparison of semaglutide 2.0 mg versus dulaglutide 3.0 mg and 4.5 mg using multilevel network meta-regression, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2021;, dgab905, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab905
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