Dual add-on therapy of gemigliptin and dapagliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled with metformin alone: The SOLUTION 2 study

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of gemigliptin and dapagliflozin dual add-on therapy (GEMI + DAPA) to metformin in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients who had inadequate glycaemic control on metformin alone, compared with a single add-on of either gemigliptin (GEMI) or dapagliflozin (DAPA) to metformin. Materials and Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled, parallel-group, phase 3 study, 469 T2D patients treated with a stable dose of metformin for 8 weeks or longer were randomized to receive GEMI + DAPA (n = 157) and either GEMI (n = 156) or DAPA (n = 156). The primary endpoint was change in HbA1c levels from baseline at week 24. Results: Baseline characteristics including body mass index and T2D duration were similar among groups. At week 24, the least square mean changes in HbA1c from baseline were −1.34% with GEMI + DAPA, −0.90% with GEMI (difference between GEMI + DAPA vs. GEMI −0.44% [95% confidence interval {CI}: −0.58% to −0.31%], P <.01) and −0.78% with DAPA (difference between GEMI + DAPA vs. DAPA −0.56% [95% CI: −0.69% to −0.42%], P <.01). Both upper CIs were less than 0, demonstrating the superiority of GEMI + DAPA for lowering HbA1c. The rates of responders achieving HbA1c less than 7% and less than 6.5% were greater with GEMI + DAPA (84.9%, 56.6%) than with GEMI (55.3%, 32.2%) and DAPA (49.3%, 15.3%). The incidence rate of adverse events was similar across groups, with low incidence rates of hypoglycaemia, urinary tract infection and genital infection. Conclusions: These results suggest that the addition of GEMI + DAPA to metformin as triple combination therapy was effective, safe and well-tolerated, especially for T2D patients who experienced poor glycaemic control on metformin alone.