Lilly Announces Positive Phase 3 Results for Once-Weekly Insulin Efsitora in Both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

▎Armstrong

On September 10, 2024, Eli Lilly and Company announced detailed phase III clinical data for the once-weekly insulin Insulin efsitora in the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, published respectively in The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine.JournalAt the same time, it was disclosed at the EASD conference.

In the Phase III clinical trial QWINT-2 of Type 2 diabetes, Efsitora demonstrated non-inferior glucose-lowering effects compared to insulin degludec, with HbA1c reduced to below 7% after 52 weeks of treatment.

In the Phase III clinical trial QWINT-5 for Type 1 diabetes, it was shown to be non-inferior to insulin degludec.

Summary

Novo Nordisk's once-weekly insulin has been launched in Europe, Japan, and China, but received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) in the United States due to issues related to production processes. Eli Lilly is expected to be the first to enter the U.S. market. In terms of technical approaches, Novo Nordisk uses fatty acid chain modification and activity attenuation, while Eli Lilly adopts Fc fusion technology.