Strong Phase III results for Bydureon/Farxiga combo in type 2 diabetes

Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) announced positive results from the Phase III DURATION-8 trial, which demonstrated that its Bydureon (exenatide extended-release) for injectable suspension 2mg once-weekly in combination with Farxiga (dapagliflozin) 10mg once-daily significantly reduced blood sugar as measured by HbA1c, versus the individual medicines alone in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on metformin.

This was the first clinical trial to combine these two different anti-diabetes medicines, a GLP-1 receptor agonist and an SGLT-2 inhibitor, as an addition to standard-of-care therapy to evaluate potential benefits for patients with type 2 diabetes with inadequate glycemic control. The results were presented on Friday at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Munich, Germany, and simultaneously published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

The trial achieved its primary endpoint with the combination of exenatide once-weekly and dapagliflozin significantly reducing HbA1c from baseline compared with exenatide once-weekly or dapagliflozin alone (-2.0% versus -1.6% and -1.4% respectively, both P<0.01),at 28 weeks.