New data show Eli Lilly's Trulicity is effective as add-on treatment to sulfonylurea

US drug major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) said combination late stage trials for its Trulicity (dulaglutide), to treat type 2 diabetes, has demonstrated it to be significantly effective versus treatment with sulfonylurea alone.

Kathleen Dungan, endocrinologist, associate professor, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and lead study author, said: "For patients who cannot tolerate or have contraindications to metformin, a sulfonylurea is often prescribed as first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes. This study affirms that Trulicity is efficacious and well-tolerated as an add-on to sulfonylurea therapy, which can help prescribers make treatment decisions for their individual patients."

The most commonly reported adverse events were gastrointestinal-related and consistent with prior Trulicity studies, including nausea (10.5%) and diarrhoea (8.4%). There were no cases of pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer in either treatment group.