An AstraZeneca-funded trial called DURATION-8 has shown a viable alternative for metformin with a combination of two medications, exenatide and dapagliflozin.
The standard treatment for type 2 diabetes is metformin, but for many patients it loses its effectiveness over time. To get around this, a combination of exenatide (a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist) and dapagliflozin (sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor) was trialled.
Originally a 28 week trial, DURATION-8 was extended to 52 weeks on the strength of its initial results.
“Many therapies in diabetes management are short-lived, which is why it is useful to test for long-term effect,” says first author Dr Serge Jabbour, director of the division of endocrinology and the Diabetes Center at Thomas Jefferson University.
The trial, with 695 participants, compared the two medications, either individually with a placebo or in combination. The combination group saw the greatest drop in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. This was accompanied by drops in systolic blood pressure and body weight.
The authors note the need for a follow-on study to determine if there were protective effects against cardiovascular and renal events with the combination.
Source: Medical News Today
