Eli Lilly’s Weekly Insulin Efsitora Alfa Shows Promising Results in Late-Stage Trials

Eli Lilly's Efsitora Alfa Success:
Eli Lilly has announced positive results from two Phase III trials, QWINT-1 and QWINT-3, for its once-weekly insulin injection efsitora alfa. The trials demonstrated that efsitora alfa is non-inferior to daily basal insulin in reducing A1C levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.

QWINT-1 and QWINT-3 Outcomes:

QWINT-1:
Efsitora alfa lowered A1C by 1.31% at week 52, compared to 1.27% for daily insulin glargine. A1C levels were 6.92% and 6.96% at 52 weeks, respectively.

QWINT-3:
Efsitora alfa reduced A1C by 0.86% at 26 weeks, versus 0.75% for insulin degludec. A1C levels were 6.93% and 7.03%, respectively.

Time-in-Range Outcomes:
Efsitora alfa achieved similar time-in-range outcomes as insulin degludec. Patients on weekly injections spent 62.8% of time in range, compared to 61.3% for those on daily treatment.

Safety Profile:
The side effect profile of efsitora alfa was similar to daily basal insulin therapies, with comparable rates of severe or clinically significant hypoglycemic events.

Market Impact:
These results could give Lilly a competitive edge over Novo Nordisk, which recently faced FDA approval issues for its once-weekly basal insulin icodec injection.

Future Plans:
Lilly will present more detailed results and analyses from QWINT-1 and QWINT-3 at an upcoming congress and will submit them for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.