Detailed results of three QWINT trials of insulin efsitora alfa could help speed a shift from daily dosing of basal insulin to weekly dosing. Topline results of four QWINT pivotal trials show efficacy and safety similar to daily bolus dosing in patients with type 2 diabetes.

“Weekly basal insulins are leading to a paradigm shift in how we are using basal insulin in people with diabetes,” said Chantal Mathieu, MD, PhD, Professor of Endocrinology at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. “Insulin icodec, the first once-weekly basal insulin, has already been approved by the European Medicines Agency and other countries. I hope the detailed results of the QWINT 1, 3, and 4 studies will confirm what we already know about safety and efficacy of insulin efsitora from QWINT 2, and that we will have a second once-weekly basal insulin go through regulatory evaluation.”

Investigators will discuss the latest results of this research during Advancing and Facilitating Basal Insulin Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes—Breaking News on the QWINT 1, 3, and 4 Trials with Once-Weekly Insulin Efsitora Alfa! The symposium will take place on Sunday, June 22, from 1:30–3:00 p.m., in Room W375 A of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Dr. Mathieu will focus on weekly basal insulins for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. On-demand access to recorded presentations will be available to registered participants following the conclusion of the 85^th Scientific Sessions, from June 25–August 25.

Efsitora alfa offers two approaches for once-weekly basal insulin titration: fixed dose or weekly.

“Starting insulin is hard for people, especially titrating it up to the right dose to improve blood glucose management,” said Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD, Vice President of the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute and Director of Community Engagement, Clinical Translational Science, Scripps Research Translational Institute. She will discuss the QWINT 3 trial comparing insulin efsitoria as a weekly basal insulin with insulin degludec in participants with type 2 diabetes currently treated with basal insulin.

The fixed-dose, QWINT 1 trial in insulin-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes offers a new approach to basal insulin dose escalation, which Julio Rosenstock, MD, Senior Scientific Advisor for Velocity Clinical Research, Director of Velocity’s site at Medical City Dallas, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, will discuss.

Instead of asking people to increase units every few days or every week, a single starting dose is used for four weeks. If after that time the patient’s targets are not met, they move to a higher dose.

“You don’t have to calculate your basal dose. You just take the next pen, and you don’t have to think about taking an injection every day,” Dr. Philis-Tsimikas said, noting that when other injectable agents went from daily to weekly doses, patient compliance improved.

QWINT 4 tracked insulin-experienced patients taking both bolus and mealtime insulin. Thomas Blevins, MD, founder of Texas Diabetes and Endocrinology, will discuss data from this trial.

Richard M. Bergenstal, MD, Executive Director of the HealthPartners Institute International Diabetes Center, also will discuss efsitora and the QWINT program.