Novo Nordisk says liraglutide tops Byetta

Novo Nordisk (CSE:NVO; NYSE:NVO) said top-line data from the Phase III LEAD-6 trial showed that once-daily liraglutide met the primary endpoint of a significant improvement in baseline HbA1c levels vs. twice-daily Byetta exenatide from Amylin (NASDAQ:AMLN) and Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY). The 26-week trial of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogs enrolled 464 Type II diabetes patients. Amylin was off $2.84 to $29.93 on Friday.

Liraglutide reduced HbA1c levels by 1.1% from baseline vs. a 0.8% reduction for exenatide. Patients entered the trial with average HbA1c levels of slightly more than 8%. Novo Nordisk said 55% and 35% of patients in the liraglutide group achieved HbA1c targets of <7% and <=6.5%, respectively, vs. 45% and 20% of exenatide patients. Patients in both arms lost an average of 3 kg during the study. The company said the overall rate of hypoglycemia in the study was low, although liraglutide did significantly reduce the rate of minor hypoglycemia vs. exenatide. In LEAD-6, liraglutide or exenatide were added to patients' existing therapy of metformin and/or sulfonylurea. ...