Lilly's ultra rapid lispro comparable to Humalog in diabetes

Data presented at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) 79th Scientific Session on two Phase III studies show that Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) ultra rapid lispro (URLi) provided non-inferior A1C reductions compared to Humalog (insulin lispro) at 26 weeks in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The data from these treat-to-target studies showed URLi also significantly reduced the rise in blood glucose one hour and two hours after a test meal compared to Humalog, a leading drug for Lilly that generated 2018 sales of $2.99 billion. Additional data from the study in people with type 1 diabetes demonstrated URLi significantly improved glucose time in range during the day. URLi is an investigational novel mealtime insulin formulation being developed to better manage blood glucose levels.

The two Phase III studies, PRONTO-T1D and PRONTO-T2D, evaluated the safety and efficacy of URLi compared to Humalog in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, respectively. Both studies met the primary endpoint of non-inferior A1C reduction from baseline compared to Humalog at 26 weeks, when the insulins were dosed at mealtime. Further, URLi demonstrated superior reduction in blood glucose spikes at both one hour (-27.9mg/dL [T1D], -11.8mg/dL [T2D]) and two hours (-31.2mg/dL [T1D] and -17.4mg/dL [T2D]) after a test meal compared to Humalog.