Novo Nordisk A/S NVO announced new data from a couple of studies on its approved products, Xultophy and Victoza, during the weekend.

Firstly, Novo Nordisk reported that the company’s type II diabetes drug Xultophy led to a statistically significant reduction in HbA1c in a phase IIIb DUAL V study, which compared Xultophy (in addition to metformin) to insulin glargine (plus metformin) in type II diabetes patients, whose disease remains uncontrolled with insulin glargine treatment.

In this study, at week 26, Xultophy reduced the level of HbA1c by 1.8% from baseline compared to 1.1% reduction in patients who further increased their dose of insulin glargine. Moreover, Xultophy achieved a 57% lower rate of confirmed hypoglycemia compared to insulin glargine and brought a change in body weight of the patients, which decreased 1.4 kg from baseline for patients in the Xultophy arm while increasing 1.8 kg for those on insulin glargine.

Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk revealed new findings from a 33-week, open-label, randomized study (LIRA-Ramadan) on Victoza. According to this data, type II diabetes patients treated with Victoza (plus metformin) experienced similar improvements in blood glucose control while fasting during the four week period of Ramadan (prolonged fasting often followed by large night-time meals) compared to those who received sulfonylurea plus metformin. However, patients receiving Victoza showed significant weight loss and lesser episodes of confirmed hypoglycemia compared to those treated with sulfonylurea.

We note that Xultophy is approved in the EU for the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus. Victoza is approved in Europe for the treatment of type II diabetes patients for achieving glycemic control in combination with oral glucose-lowering medicinal products and/or basal insulin, when these (in combination with diet and exercise) fail to provide adequate glycemic control. In the U.S., Victoza is approved as an adjunct to diet and exercise for improving blood glucose control in type II diabetes patients.

Novo Nordisk carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the health care sector are Actelion Ltd. ALIOF, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. VRX and Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. ACOR. While Actelion and Valeant sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Acorda carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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