Type 2 diabetes: Semaglutide better than dulaglutide for reducing blood sugar and body weight, study finds

Written By : Medha Baranwal |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2022-01-12T10:15:54+05:30 | Updated On 12 Jan 2022 11:13 AM IST

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 HbA_1c 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 HbA_1c <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

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolismtype 2 diabetesblood sugarsemaglutidedulaglutide

Source : Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Medha Baranwal

MSc. Biotechnology

Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751