A combination injection of insulin and liraglutide significantly improves glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes compared with either drug alone, according to the results of a UK study.
The 26 week trial of 834 patients inadequately controlled with metformin and pioglitazone randomised patients to the fixed dose combination of insulin degludec and liraglutide, or each of the components as monotherapy.
At the start of the trial the average HbA1c was 67mmol/mol (8.3%) and this dropped by 21 mmol/mol (1.9%) to 46 mmol/mol (6.4%) with the combination, significantly greater than the drop of 15mmol/mol with insulin degludec and 14mmol/mol with liraglutide.
The study was sponsored by Novo Nordisk and presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2013 Meeting in Barcelona.
