Does Albiglutide work?
Yes, in large controlled trials. One trial followed 9,463 people.
Approval for type 2 diabetes rested on the HARMONY phase 3 programme of randomized trials, and the HARMONY OUTCOMES trial later randomized 9,463 patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, showing fewer major cardiovascular events than placebo. Those are large randomized trials with hard endpoints, which is grade A for glucose control and cardiovascular risk reduction. 12
The HARMONY phase 3 programme tested albiglutide against placebo and against other diabetes drugs in several thousand patients. It lowered HbA1c, the three-month average glucose measure, and caused modest weight loss. In direct comparisons it was less potent than liraglutide. 1
HARMONY OUTCOMES was published in The Lancet in 2018. It randomized 9,463 adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease to albiglutide or placebo. Researchers followed them for a median of 1.6 years. The main outcome was cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke. It occurred in 7% of the albiglutide group and 9% of the placebo group, a hazard ratio of 0.78. The result met the test for superiority as well as non-inferiority. 2
Evidence checklist
- Randomised controlled trial HARMONY programme; HARMONY OUTCOMES RCT
- Human study over 100 people HARMONY OUTCOMES, 9,463 patients
- More than one research group Article does not say who ran the trials
- Clinical outcomes, not surrogate markers Fewer major cardiovascular events than placebo
- Human safety data beyond case reports Large trials; pancreatitis rate similar to placebo
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More on Albiglutide
Citations
- Fala 2015, Am Health Drug Benefits: Tanzeum (albiglutide), a once-weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist approved for type 2 diabetes pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Hernandez 2018, Lancet: HARMONY OUTCOMES, albiglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes doi.org
- Drugs.com: Tanzeum (albiglutide) discontinuation drugs.com
Reference information only, not medical advice. Drawn from the Albiglutide article, fact-checked against the cited sources. No dosing anywhere on this site.