Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 19, 2025

Improving IV Insulin Administration in a Community Hospital
Published on: June 11, 2012
Insights on Hospitalisations from the Phase 3a ONWARDS 1-6 Trials of Once-Weekly Insulin Icodec
Athena Philis-Tsimikas1,2, Julie Krogsdahl Bache3, Ariel Fu3
1Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, San Diego, CA, USA. tsimikas.athena@scrippshealth.org.
Introduction:
The ONWARDS programme assessed the efficacy and safety of once-weekly insulin icodec (icodec) versus once-daily basal insulin comparators in type 2 diabetes (T2D) or type 1 diabetes (T1D). This post hoc exploratory analysis of ONWARDS 1-6 assessed the impact of icodec during and around hospitalisation.
Methods:
ONWARDS 1-6 were randomised, two-arm, phase 3a trials (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04460885; NCT04770532; NCT04795531; NCT04880850; NCT04760626; NCT04848480). Adults with T2D (ONWARDS 1-5; n = 3765) and T1D (ONWARDS 6; n = 582) received icodec or once-daily comparators (insulin degludec, insulin glargine U100, insulin glargine U300). Hospitalised cases were analysed for: hospitalisation duration, icodec dose, self-measured blood glucose, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, and clinically significant and severe hypoglycaemia before, during, and after hospitalisation.
Results:
Across trials, a similar number of participants receiving icodec (n = 152/2172) and once-daily comparators (n = 156/2175) were hospitalised. Median duration of hospital stay was similar between treatment groups (icodec, 5.0 days; once-daily comparators, 6.0 days); icodec dose remained fairly stable around hospitalisation. Most hospitalised participants completed the trial without permanently discontinuing treatment (icodec, 84.9%; once-daily comparators, 90.4%). Mean HbA1c levels remained relatively stable over assessed time points for both treatment groups. Six participants receiving icodec (one with T2D; five with T1D) and three receiving once-daily comparators (one with T2D; two with T1D) reported clinically significant or severe hypoglycaemia during hospitalisation.
Conclusions:
Similar numbers of hospitalisations were reported in both treatment arms. Icodec treatment was continued during hospitalisation in most participants and did not appear to have an impact on glycaemic management or hypoglycaemia. This analysis suggests that once-weekly icodec could be managed in a similar way to once-daily basal insulin analogues during hospitalisation.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers, NCT04460885 (ONWARDS 1), NCT04770532 (ONWARDS 2), NCT04795531 (ONWARDS 3), NCT04880850 (ONWARDS 4), NCT04760626 (ONWARDS 5), NCT04848480 (ONWARDS 6).
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