NICE recommends new type 2 diabetes treatment

Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro™ (tirzepatide), has been recommended to treat poorly controlled type 2 diabetes in adults alongside diet and exercise.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) final draft guidance recommends tirzepatide as a new treatment option for this indication.

Compared with semaglutide, insulin therapy or a placebo, tirzepatide demonstrated that 81 percent to 97 percent of people achieved better glucose control in clinical trials. There were also 54 percent to 88 percent of patients who reached a five percent or greater reduction in body weight. According to clinical trial data, this is significantly more than any of the comparators.

Tirzepatide

The novel dual glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist tirzepatide, is licensed for adults with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes when metformin cannot be tolerated, Helen Knight, Director of medicines evaluation at NICE explained.

“Tirzepatide has been shown… [to lead] to substantial weight loss of, on average, 15 percent over 70 weeks.  It has a convenient once-weekly dosing regimen and importantly, it carries a low risk of hypoglycaemia, making it a safer choice in diabetes management,” stated Dr Martin Whyte, Associate Professor in Metabolic Medicine, University of Surrey.

Final guidance is scheduled to be published on 11 October 2023. Upon publication, tirzepatide will be made available in the NHS within 90 days, although this is dependent on manufacturing supply.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved tirzepatide for type 2 diabetes in May 2022. At the time, it was the first GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist authorised for this indication. The European Commission approved the injectable treatment in September 2022.

Eli Lilly reaps commercial growth through diabetes therapies 

Last month, Eli Lilly announced it had completed its acquisition of Sigilon Therapeutics to advance development of a type 1 diabetes cell therapy.

Significantly, research has shown that Eli Lilly witnessed the largest market capitalisation growth in Q2 2023, rising to first place in the ranking, ahead of Johnson & Johnson. The company stated last month that Mounjaro led the way in enabling it to generate $1 billion in revenue in Q2 of this year.