Tresiba lowers rate of hypoglycemia more than insulin glargine in type 2 diabetics

Danish diabetes care giant Novo Nordisk (NOV: N) has released positive headline results from SWITCH 2, the first of two 2x32-weeks randomized, double-blind, cross-over, treat-to-target trials, comparing the safety and efficacy of next-generation diabetes treatment Tresiba (insulin degludec) and insulin glargine.

The overall purpose of the trial was to compare the hypoglycemia occurrence in people with type 2 diabetes treated with Tresiba, which is already approved and marketed in Europe and the USA (where it was launched just last month), or insulin glargine, French drug major Sanofi’s Lantus.

In the trial, 721 people with type 2 diabetes were randomized to cross-over treatment with Tresiba and insulin glargine in combination with metformin. The timing of the daily injections of both Tresiba and insulin glargine was randomized equally to take place either in the morning or evening. The primary end-point of the trial was the number of treatment emergent severe or blood glucose confirmed symptomatic hypoglycemia episodes during the maintenance period (ie, after 16 weeks of treatment) in each treatment period.