Improved glycaemic control and lower hypoglycaemia risk with reduced prior oral antidiabetes drug therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin glargine 300 U/mL

AIMS: Data from the EDITION 3 randomized study and the Clinformatics claims database were analysed to determine whether insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla‐300) could provide insulin‐naive patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) on oral antidiabetes drugs (OADs) with reductions in prior OAD therapy without compromising glycaemic control, and while preserving its known low incidence of hypoglycaemia compared with insulin glargine 100 U/mL (Gla‐100). METHODS: Patient‐level data from EDITION 3 and de‐identified data from the Clinformatics real‐world claims database were analysed. RESULTS: At baseline, 70% of patients in EDITION 3 were on a background of ≥2 OADs. Among the 435 and 437 patients who initiated basal insulin with Gla‐300 and Gla‐100, respectively, at Month 6, 336 (77%) and 338 (77%) were using ≤1 OAD. Adding Gla‐300 or Gla‐100 similarly allowed for a reduction in background OAD medication in the Clinformatics dataset (N = 6430), such that, at 6 months postbasal insulin initiation, 14% of patients were no longer taking any OADs. In the analysis of the EDITION 3 study, reduction in OAD burden did not compromise glycaemic benefit, and the low incidence of hypoglycaemia associated with Gla‐300 compared with Gla‐100 was also preserved. Documented symptomatic hypoglycaemia (blood glucose ≤70 mg/dL) occurred in 30.5% vs 41.0% of patients treated with Gla‐300 and Gla‐100, respectively (P = 0.0442). CONCLUSION: Patients with T2D who initiate basal insulin with Gla‐300 could potentially reduce their prior OAD use without compromising glycaemic control and with less hypoglycaemia than with Gla‐100.