Biodel's diabetes drug VIAject meets goals

LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Two studies have shown Biodel Inc's (BIOD.O) diabetes drug VIAject is as effective as Eli Lilly and Co's (LLY.N) Humulin at controlling blood sugar level in people with diabetes, the company said on Monday.

The U.S.-based company said two Phase III trials designed to compare the efficacy and safety of VIAject to Humulin met the primary endpoint over six months of treatment. It reported the results at a diabetes conference in Rome.

In a trial of volunteers with Type 2 diabetes from 47 centres in the United States, Germany and India, the researchers looked at 187 people who received VIAject and 205 given Humulin.

Both drugs comparably decreased levels of HbA1c -- a standard measure of glucose control -- while people on VIAject had fewer mild and moderate, or non-severe, incidences of low blood sugar.

In a study of people with Type 1 diabetes in 60 centres in the United States, Germany and India, the findings were based on 131 volunteers on VIAject and 140 on Humulin.

The decrease in HbA1c was comparable among the two groups with an adjusted difference between the groups of 0.1 percent, the company said. (Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Paul Bolding