Nordisk's liraglutide reduces HbA1c

Data presented at Diabetes UK's Annual Professional Conference, in Glasgow, Scotland, show that Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 analog liraglutide is  effective at reducing HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes and also  significantly reduces body weight. The Danish diabetes specialist's  once-daily drug works by stimulating the release of insulin only when  glucose levels become too high, as well as by inhibiting appetite.

The data analyze from the LEAD 2 and LEAD 5 Phase III, 26-week studies,  part of the LEAD study program evaluated the agent's effect when  combined with various oral antidiabetic therapies. The results showed  that 1.8mg/day of liraglutide produced clinically-meaningful reductions  in HbA1c irrespective of baseline HbA1c and reductions increased with  higher baseline levels.

Findings from both studies also showed that participants in all Body  Mass Index subgroups experienced weight loss with liraglutide. The  greatest decrease occurred in those with BMI over 35kg/m2. The control  regimens (glimepiride/metformin in LEAD 2 and insulin  glargine/glimepiride/metformin in LEAD 5) were associated with body  weight increases in all BMI subgroups, from 0.4 kg to 2.2 kg.