Long-term safety of linagliptin monotherapy in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes

In a phase III study conducted among Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), linagliptin 5 and 10 mg showed clinically meaningful improvements in glycaemic parameters after 12 and 26 weeks compared with placebo and voglibose, respectively. This extension study assessed long-term tolerability of linagliptin over 52 weeks.

Japanese patients with T2DM who completed either phase of a 12-week/26-week study comparing linagliptin monotherapy with placebo or voglibose were eligible to enrol. In the extension study, the comparator groups switched to linagliptin 5 or 10 mg, while the linagliptin groups maintained dosage.

In all, 540 patients received at least one dose of linagliptin 5 or 10 mg and 494 completed the extension. Long-term treatment with linagliptin was well tolerated; adverse events (AEs) of special interest and serious AEs occurred in small percentages of patients. Drug-related AEs occurred in 10.2 and 10.6% of patients in the linagliptin 5- and 10-mg groups, respectively, and discontinuations due to drug-related AEs occurred in 1.1 and 0.7%, respectively. Only one (0.4%) patient in each dose group experienced investigator-defined hypoglycaemia during the treatment period (both events were non-severe). Body weight was not clinically altered in either group. The glycated haemoglobin A1c profiles over time were similar with linagliptin 5 and 10 mg.

These findings provide evidence for the safety and tolerability of oral linagliptin at either 5 or 10 mg for up to 52 weeks for the treatment of Japanese patients with T2DM, without clinically relevant increase in the risk of hypoglycaemia or weight gain.