Semaglutide vs Dulaglutide: Which Is Best for Type 2 Diabetes?
Semaglutide is superior to dulagutide for weight loss and the improvement of glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes, a new study found.
For their study, the researchers evaluated 1201 metformin-treated patients aged 18 years or older with type 2 diabetes and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels of 7% to 10.5%. Patients were randomly assigned to treatment with either 0.5 mg semagutide (n = 301), 0.75 mg dulaglutide (n = 299), 1.0 mg semaglutide (n = 300), or 1.5 mg dulaglutide (n = 299).
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Results showed that mean percentage HbA1c was reduced by 1.5 percentage points with 0.5 mg semaglutide vs 1.1 percentage points with 0.75 mg dulaglutide, and by 1.8 percentage points with 1.0 mg semaglutide vs 1.4 percentage points with 1.5 mg dulaglutide.
In addition, mean bodyweight was reduced by about 10.1 lbs with 0.5 mg semaglutide vs 5.1 lbs with 0.75 mg dulaglutide, and about 14.3 lbs with 1.0 mg semaglutide vs 6.6 lbs with 1.5 mg dulaglutide.
Gastrointestinal disorders were the most commonly reported adverse event and the most frequent cause of treatment discontinuation in this cohort. Six fatalities occurred throughout the study (1 in each semaglutide group and 2 in each dulaglutide group).
“At low and high doses, semaglutide was superior to dulaglutide in improving glycemic control and reducing bodyweight, enabling a significantly greater number of patients with type 2 diabetes to achieve clinically meaningful glycemic targets and weight loss, with a similar safety profile,” the researchers concluded.
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Pratley RE, Aroda VR, Lingvay I, et al. Semaglutide versus dulaglutide once weekly in patients with type 2 diabetes (SUSTAIN 7): a randomised, open-label, phase 3b trial [Published online January 31, 2018]. The Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(18)30024-X.