Lilly Reports Novel MOA For Basal Insulin

Eli Lilly & Co. reported that new data confirms that its basal insulin peglispro (BIL) has a new mechanism of action (MOA) compared to insulin glargine for the complete suppression of glucose production.

BIL is an investigational basal insulin discovered and developed by Lilly Research Laboratories and currently under investigation as a once-daily treatment for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

The drug was studied in single-center, crossover trials in which 8 male patients underwent 8-hour euglycemic clamps performed with continuous intravenous infusions of BIL and insulin glargine. 2 doses of insulin and 5 doses of BIL were monitored for glucose disposal rate (GDR) and endogenous glucose production (EGP) rate to characterize peripheral compared to hepatic insulin action. Findings show that BIL demonstrated less activity in peripheral tissues such as muscle and fat compared to insulin glargine.

David Kendall, vice president of Medical Affairs at Lilly Diabetes, said, “What's exciting about this particular study is that it provides further evidence that basal insulin peglispro works in a fundamentally different way in the body compared to insulin glargine. We saw a similar effect in earlier animal studies comparing BIL to an infusion of human insulin. These studies taken together support our hypothesis that BIL works in a manner more similar to the body's own insulin when compared to other exogenous insulins.”

Diabetes, a chronic disease in which the body fails to properly produce and utilize the hormone insulin, affects approximately 382 million people around the world and around 24.4 million patients in the U.S. Type 2 diabetes accounts for an estimated 90 to 95 percent of all cases.

Results from the study will be presented by Eli Lilly at the 74th American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions.

The company also reported recent results from two Phase III studies comparing dulaglutide, an investigational glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, against insulin glargine for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.