US – In the just concluded phase 3 trials, the American pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly have provided results that showed its investigational Gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) and Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) inhibitor tirzepatide is superior to Novo Nordisk’s ozempic.
The SURPASS-2 study compared the efficacy and safety of tirzepatide 5 mg, 10 mg and 15 mg to Ozempic (semaglutide) 1 mg in adults with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes, as an add-on to metformin, a prescription medication used to treat diabetes.
All three doses of Lilly’s drug demonstrated superior HbA1C (a measure of how well controlled your blood sugar has been over a period of about 3 months) and body weight reductions compared to Ozempic 1 mg.
Specifically, the HbA1C reductions were -2.09% for the 5mg dose, -2.37% for the 10mg dose and -2.46% for the 15 mg dose, compared to -1.86% for the Ozempic 1 mg dose and in addition, tirzepatide also led to significant weight reductions – -7.8 kg (5 mg), -10.3 kg (10 mg), -12.4 kg (15 mg) – compared to -6.2kg for Ozempic (1 mg).
The number of participants who achieved HbA1C less than 7% was also greater across all tirzepatide doses compared to the Ozempic 1mg group, with statistical significance met for 10 mg and 15 mg but not for 5 mg.
Diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar), which leads over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.
The most common is type 2 diabetes, usually in adults, which occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn’t make enough insulin.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO) about 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, the majority living in low-and middle-income countries, and 1.6 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year.
Both the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades.
For people living with diabetes, access to affordable treatment, including insulin, is critical to their survival.
Currenlty, there is a globally agreed target to halt the rise in diabetes and obesity by 2025 hence companies like Lilly and Novo Nordisk proving vital in achieving this target.
