Lilly, BI diabetes drug shows greater A1C reduction in African-American adults than placebo, study shows

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. — A drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes produced significant reduction in blood sugar in African-American patients, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial.



Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly announced Thursday results of a phase-3 trial of Tradjenta (linagliptin) in which 226 patients with Type 2 diabetes received 5 mg of the drug once per day or placebo.



Patients in the treatment group showed a reduction of HbA1C of 0.88%, compared with 0.24% among those receiving placebo. The drug makers noted that African Americans and other ethnic minority groups "significantly" are underrepresented in clinical trials, and this was the first published trial of a DPP-4 inhibitor — the drug class to which Tradjenta belongs — specifically conducted in African-American adult patients. Diabetes disproportionately affects African-Americans, with non-Hispanic African-American adults having a risk of developing the disease 77% greater than non-Hispanic white adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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