NEW ORLEANS -- Monotherapy with once-weekly retatrutide, an investigational triple hormone receptor agonist, improved glycemic control and body weight in adults with type 2 diabetes, the phase III TRANSCEND-T2D-1 trial showed.
Among 537 adults, average change from baseline in HbA1c concentration was -1.69% with retatrutide 4 mg, -1.86% with 9 mg, and -1.94% with 12 mg compared with -0.81% with placebo by week 40 in the treatment regimen estimand (all P<0.0001), reported Harpreet S. Bajaj, MD, MPH, of LMC Diabetes and Endocrinology in Ontario, Canada.
Retatrutide-treated participants ended with an HbA1c between 5.9% to 6.2% compared with 7.2% in those given placebo, he said at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions.
"HbA1c levels of less than 5.7%, representing a normal value for HbA1c, were reached by 35-40% of participants treated with retatrutide, without any case of severe hypoglycemia," the authors wrote in The Lancet, where the findings were simultaneously published. "Reductions in HbA1c did not appear to reach a plateau by the end of the 40-week treatment period in the retatrutide 9 mg and 12 mg groups."
The HbA1c reduction is similar to that of dual GLP-1 and GIP agonists, Bajaj noted during a press conference. For example, tirzepatide (Mounjaro) was associated with a 1.5% reduction in HbA1c when used as a standalone therapy in a trial.
