Achieving a clinically relevant composite outcome of an HbA1c of <7% without weight gain or hypoglycaemia in type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of the liraglutide clinical trial programme

Aim: Effective type 2 diabetes management requires a multifactorial approach extending beyond glycaemic control. Clinical practice guidelines suggest targets for HbA1c, blood pressure and lipids, and emphasize weight reduction and avoiding hypoglycaemia. The phase 3 clinical trial programme for liraglutide, a human glucagon-like peptide 1 analogue, showed significant improvements in HbA1c and weight with a low risk of hypoglycaemia compared to other diabetes therapies. In this context, we performed a meta-analysis of data from these trials evaluating the proportion of patients achieving a clinically relevant composite measure of diabetes control consisting of an HbA1c <7% without weight gain or hypoglycaemia. Methods: A prespecified meta-analysis was performed on 26-week patient-level data from seven trials (N = 4625) evaluating liraglutide with commonly used therapies for type 2 diabetes: glimepiride, rosiglitazone, glargine, exenatide, sitagliptin or placebo, adjusting for baseline HbA1c and weight, for a composite outcome of HbA1c <7.0%, no weight gain and no hypoglycaemic events. Results: At 26 weeks, 40% of the liraglutide 1.8 mg group, 32% of the liraglutide 1.2 mg group and 6-25% of comparators (6% rosiglitazone, 8% glimepiride, 15% glargine, 25% exenatide, 11% sitagliptin, 8% placebo) achieved this composite outcome. Odds ratios favoured liraglutide 1.8 mg by 2.0- to 10.5-fold over comparators. Conclusions: As assessed by the composite outcome of HbA1c <7%, no hypoglycaemia and no weight gain, liraglutide was clearly superior to the other commonly used therapies. However, the long-term clinical impact of this observation remains to be shown.