Emerging treatments

Your Organisational Guidance

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Diabetes Mellitus Type 2Published by: Domus Medica | SSMGLast published: 2017Diabète sucré de type 2Published by: SSMG | Domus MedicaLast published: 2017

Automated insulin delivery/hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery

Automated insulin delivery/hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery uses an integrated system of a continuous glucose monitor, an insulin pump and a control algorithm that automatically modulates subcutaneous insulin delivery.[259] A small number of short-term studies have demonstrated the benefits of automated insulin delivery in adults with type 2 diabetes; however, its value in this population is not fully understood and requires further investigation.[259] In one open-label, single-centre, randomised crossover trial in adults with type 2 diabetes, automated insulin delivery improved glucose control without increasing hypoglycaemia compared with standard insulin therapy, with the authors concluding that this may represent a safe and efficacious method to improve patient outcomes.[260] Automated insulin delivery systems have been studied more widely in patients with type 1 diabetes. The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists Closed-Loop Audit Program was designed to assess the real-world effectiveness and safety of hybrid closed-loop systems commercially available in the UK in an NHS outpatient setting for patients with type 1 diabetes with an HbA1c of ≥8.5%.[261]​ The study concluded that the use of hybrid closed-loop therapy is associated with improvements in HbA1c, time in range, hypoglycaemia, and diabetes-related distress and quality of life in people with type 1 diabetes.[261]

Once-weekly insulin formulations

Basal insulin therapy may be needed in patients with type 2 diabetes, but there can be reluctance to initiate treatment due to the burden of the existing once-daily treatment regimens on the patient. A once-weekly insulin regimen may help to overcome this reluctance and improve overall treatment compliance. There are currently two once-weekly basal insulins in various stages of development: insulin icodec and basal insulin Fc (BIF; also known as insulin efsitora alfa). Insulin icodec is approved in Europe for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in adults. BIF is still under clinical development. The safety and efficacy of once-weekly insulin icodec has been assessed in patients with type 2 diabetes (both insulin-naive and previously insulin-treated insulin) in a series of phase 3a, randomised, clinical trials (the ONWARDS trials). Overall, the trials suggest that once-weekly insulin icodec shows non-inferior, and in some cases superior, glycaemic control compared with the once-daily insulin analogues insulin degludec and insulin glargine, with a similarly low rate of hypoglycaemia.[262][263][264][265][266]​​ The safety and efficacy of once-weekly BIF versus once-daily degludec in insulin-naive patients with type 2 diabetes previously treated with oral antihyperglycaemic medications was assessed in a phase 2 randomised open-label study.[267]​ It concluded that BIF achieved excellent glycaemic control similar to degludec, with no concerning hypoglycaemia or other safety findings.[267]

Bexagliflozin

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved bexagliflozin, an oral sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycaemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. Phase 3 clinical trials have studied bexagliflozin as monotherapy and in combination with metformin in adults with type 2 diabetes; it has also been studied in phase 3 trials in adults with type 2 diabetes and moderate renal impairment, and in adults with type 2 diabetes and established or increased risk of cardiovascular disease.[268][269][270][271][272][273][274][275]​​​​[276]​ Treatment with bexagliflozin reduced HbA1c compared to placebo and efficacy was non-inferior to glimepiride and sitagliptin, with reduction in HbA1c being shown across subgroups of age, sex, race, and geographic region. Bexagliflozin is not available in Europe.

Sotagliflozin

Sotagliflozin is the first dual SGLT1/SGLT2 inhibitor.[277]​ It inhibits both renal SGLT-2 (promoting significant excretion of glucose in the urine, in the same way as other already available SGLT-2 selective inhibitors) and intestinal SGLT-1 (delaying glucose absorption and therefore reducing postprandial glucose).[277] It is available as an oral formulation. It has been approved by the FDA to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, hospitalisation for heart failure, and urgent heart failure visits in adults with heart failure, or with type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and other cardiovascular risk factors. The approval was based on two randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 cardiovascular outcome trials: SOLOIST-WHF (effects of sotagliflozin on clinical outcomes in haemodynamically stable patients with type 2 diabetes post worsening heart failure) and SCORED (effects of sotagliflozin on cardiovascular and renal events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular risk factors and moderately impaired renal function).[278][279]​​​​ Sotagliflozin is not available in Europe.

Bempedoic acid

Bempedoic acid, an adenosine triphosphate-citrate lyase inhibitor, is a novel oral low-density lipoprotein cholesterol-lowering drug. It is approved in Europe for the treatment of adults with primary hypercholesterolaemia (heterozygous familial and non-familial) or mixed dyslipidaemia, as an adjunct to diet either in combination with a statin (or a statin with other lipid-lowering therapies) in patients unable to reach LDL cholesterol goals with the maximum tolerated dose of a statin, or alone/in combination with other lipid-lowering therapies in patients who are statin-intolerant or for whom a statin is contraindicated. Bempedoic acid is also approved for a similar indication in the US and is recommended by the American Diabetes Association for people with diabetes intolerant to statin therapy.[34]​ A NICE technology appraisal recommends using bempedoic acid with ezetimibe as an option for treating primary hypercholesterolaemia (heterozygous familial and non-familial) or mixed dyslipidaemia as an adjunct to diet in adults if statins are contraindicated or not tolerated, ezetimibe alone does not control LDL cholesterol well enough, and the company provides bempedoic acid and bempedoic acid with ezetimibe according to the commercial arrangement.[280] There is emerging evidence from one RCT that treatment with bempedoic acid is associated with a reduction in risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (death from cardiovascular causes, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, or coronary revascularisation) in statin-intolerant patients, providing some evidence for its use in this group.[281]

Endoscopic bariatric procedures

Stand-alone, primary endoscopic bariatric procedures (e.g., intragastric balloons) for the management of obesity and certain obesity-associated comorbidities like type 2 diabetes have evolved in recent years, bridging the gap between intensive lifestyle modifications and invasive bariatric surgical procedures.[28] In general, endoscopic bariatric procedures appear to be slightly less efficacious than bariatric surgery, although they are potentially slightly safer, less-invasive, and more reversible.[28]

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