Exenatide versus Insulin Lispro Added to Basal Insulin in a Subgroup of Korean Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

BackgroundThe prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity is increasing in Korea. Clinical studies in patients with T2DM have shown that combining the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist exenatide twice daily with basal insulin is an effective glucose-lowering strategy. However, these studies were predominantly conducted in non-Asian populations.MethodsWe conducted a subgroup analysis of data from a multinational, 30-week, randomized, open-label trial to compare the effects of exenatide twice daily (n=10) or three times daily mealtime insulin lispro (n=13) among Korean patients with T2DM inadequately controlled (glycosylated hemoglobin [HbA1c] >7.0%) on metformin plus optimized insulin glargine.ResultsExenatide twice daily and insulin lispro both reduced HbA1c (mean −1.5% and −1.0%, respectively; P