SEATTLE — Sitagliptin can be safely added to other oral diabetes medications, producing a drop in hemoglobin A1c levels that averages about 0.7%, according to a report at the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.
In one trial, when 100 mg/day sitagliptin (Januvia) was added to metformin treatment (1,500 mg or greater per day) for 24 weeks, patients with type 2 diabetes had a mean reduction in HbA1c of 0.65% from a baseline mean of 8.0%.
In another trial, when sitagliptin was added to pioglitazone treatment, at a dose of 30 mg or greater per day, patients had a mean reduction in HbA1c of 0.7%, from a baseline HbA1c of 8.1%, Dr. Peter Stein senior director in clinical research at Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, N.J., said in the poster presentation.
Placebo controls in the studies had no decline in mean HbA1c in the group that was also on metformin, and a decline of about 0.1% in the group that was also on pioglitazone.
Of the patients in the study who were also on metformin, 18% of the patients who took sitagliptin achieved an HbA1c level below 6.5%, as did 25% of those also on pioglitazone.
In the controls, only about 5% achieved an HbA1c that low. The studies were funded by Merck & Co.