UPDATE 1-Roche-licensed diabetes drug meets trial targets

* Tapoglutide meets head-to-head study goals * Drug showed superior HbA1c reduction vs placebo * Lowers blood-glucose levels more than sitagliptin (Adds background, detail)

ZURICH Dec 2 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) said on Wednesday a diabetes treatment currently undergoing Phase III trials met its primary endpoints in the most recent studies.

Roche said weekly drug taspoglutide, which the company licensed from French drugmaker Ipsen (IPN.PA) in 2006, showed superior reduction of HbA1c, a measure of blood-glucose levels, against placebo in one of the studies.

Roche, the world's largest maker of cancer drugs, said a further study showed taspoglitude reduced HbA1c better than sitagliptin, a daily blood-glucose lowering drug. (Reporting by Martin de Sa'Pinto; Editing by David Holmes) ((zurich.newsroom@reuters.com; +41 (0)58 306 7462; Reuters Messaging: martin.desapinto.reuters.com@reuters.net))