It is thought that a reduction in the frequency of basal insulin injections might facilitate treatment acceptance and adherence among patients with type 2 diabetes.
Insulin icodec is a basal insulin analogue designed for once-weekly administration for the treatment of diabetes.
It simplifies the delivery of basal insulin therapy
It is an ultra long acting basal insulin: half-life of approximately one week
In a phase 2 trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of once-weekly insulin icodec as compared with once-daily insulin glargine U100 in patients who had not previously received long-term insulin treatment and whose type 2 diabetes was inadequately controlled while taking metformin with or without a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor.
Phase 2 trials demonstrated icodec, had similar glycemic efficacy, and safety profiles compared to once daily insulin glarine U100.
Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive icodec or glargine.
The estimated mean change from baseline in the glycated hemoglobin level was −1.33 percentage points in the icodec group and −1.15 percentage points in the glargine group, to estimated means of 6.69% and 6.87%, respectively, at week 26.
In the ONWARDS 3 randomized clinical trial among people with insulin naive type two diabetes, once weekly icodec demonstrated superior hemoglobin A1c reduction to once daily degludec after 26 weeks of treatment, with no difference in weight change and higher rate of combined level 2 or 3 hypoglycemic events in the context of less than one event per patient-year exposure in both groups.
Once-weekly treatment with insulin icodec had glucose-lowering efficacy and a safety profile similar to those of once-daily insulin glargine U100 in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Maximum drug concentration of 16 hours and a half life of approximately one week.