Real-life effectiveness and tolerability of vildagliptin and other oral glucose-lowering therapies in patients with type 2 diabetes in Germany.

INTRODUCTION

Metformin is an established first-line treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but treatment intensification with other oral antidiabetes drugs (OADs) is usually required over time. Effectiveness of diabetes control with vildagliptin and vildagliptin/metformin was a 1-year, large observational study of 45,868 patients with T2DM across 27 countries which assessed effectiveness and safety of vildagliptin as add-on therapy to other OADs versus other comparator OAD combinations. Here, we present the data from Germany.

METHODS

Patients inadequately controlled with monotherapy were eligible only after the add-on treatment was finalized. Patients were assigned to either vildagliptin or comparator OADs [sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, glinides, α-glucosidase inhibitors or metformin, excluding dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors or glucagon-like peptide-1 mimetic/analogues]. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving a glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) reduction of >0.3% without peripheral edema, hypoglycemia, discontinuation due to a gastrointestinal event or weight gain ≥5%. One secondary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving HbA1c <7% without hypoglycemia and weight gain. Change in HbA1c from baseline to study endpoint and safety were assessed.

RESULTS

Of 8,887 patients enrolled in Germany, 6,679 received vildagliptin and 1,695 received other OADs. The mean ± SD baseline age, HbA1c, and T2DM duration were 62.8 ± 11.0 years, 7.7 ± 1.2%, and 5.8 ± 4.9 years, respectively. The proportion of patients achieving the primary (34.5% vs. 30.5%, p < 0.01) and secondary (25.4% vs. 21.7%, p = 0.01) endpoints was higher with vildagliptin than comparator OADs. Vildagliptin showed a numerically greater reduction in HbA1c (0.7%) from baseline vs. comparator OADs (0.6%). The overall incidence of adverse events was similar.

CONCLUSION

In real life, treatment with vildagliptin is associated with a higher proportion of patients reaching target HbA1c without hypoglycemia and weight gain compared with other OADs in Germany.