Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. And Eli Lilly and Co Announce That 90-Week Data Suggest Sustained Glucose Reduction And Weight Loss With Investigational SGLT-2 Inhibitor, Empagliflozin

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co presented results that showed empagliflozin (BI 10773), alone or as an add-on to metformin, reduced hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c or A1C) levels, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels and body weight when given to adults with type 2 diabetes for up to 90 weeks. A1C is measured in people with diabetes to provide an index of blood glucose control for the previous two to three months. The new data, from a phase 2b open-label extension study, were presented during a late-breaking session at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA's) 72nd Scientific Sessions. Empagliflozin inhibits SGLT-2, which blocks glucose reuptake in the kidney, thereby removing excess glucose through the urine. In the open-label study, adults with type 2 diabetes (n=659) who participated in one of two 12-week, blinded, dose-finding empagliflozin trials, were treated for an additional 78 weeks with open-label empagliflozin 10 mg or 25 mg (monotherapy or add-on to metformin), metformin alone, or sitagliptin as add-on to metformin. At week 90, decreases in average A1C levels (percent), FPG levels (mg/dL), and body weight (kg, weight) were observed with empagliflozin 10 mg alone (-0.34; -30.4; -2.24, respectively) and 25 mg alone (-0.47; -27.8; -2.61, respectively), versus metformin (-0.56; -26.0; -1.28, respectively).