These data were presented at the 66th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.
“These findings are important because they confirm that people who switched from rapid-acting injectable insulin to Exubera experienced no loss of blood sugar control,” said Dr Julio Rosenstock, lead investigator from the Dallas Diabetes and Endocrine Center at Medical City.
In the study evaluating Exubera in patients with type 2 diabetes, 635 adults with type 2 diabetes who had stable injected insulin therapy at baseline were randomized to receive either Exubera or continued injected insulin therapy. After two years of treatment, patients in both groups had similar improvement or maintained their blood sugar levels. Furthermore, weight gain in patients taking Exubera was 1.7kg compared to 3kg in patients taking injected insulin.
Meanwhile, similar results were reported from a type 1 diabetes trial which randomized 582 patients. Patients maintained blood sugar levels over the two year period. Weight gain in type 1 diabetes patients taking Exubera was 0.8 kg compared to 2 kg in patients taking injected insulin.