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Eli Lilly reported Thursday that its experimental weekly insulin worked as well as daily basal insulin products in two late-stage studies, paving the way for the drug to compete with a similar weekly insulin developed by Novo Nordisk.

In a 52-week trial of type 2 diabetes patients using insulin for the first time, those on the weekly insulin, called efsitora alfa, had a 1.34% reduction in blood sugar levels, while people on the comparator daily insulin degludec, sold as Tresiba by Novo, had a 1.26% lowering. That resulted in patients having blood sugar levels, known as A1C readings, of 6.87% and 6.95%, respectively.

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In a separate 26-week trial of type 2 patients who have been using insulin, those on efsitora and the comparator daily insulin glargine, sold by Lilly as Basaglar and Sanofi as Lantus, both saw A1C reductions of 1.07%, resulting in blood sugar levels of 7.12% and 7.11%, respectively.

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