BG control in Type 1 Diabetes Improves with Fast-Acting Insulin Aspart

By Lisa Foster-McNulty, MSN, RN, CDE

In the United Kingdom, researcher David Russell-Jones, M.B.B.S, M.D, and colleagues from the Royal Surrey Country Hospital in Guilford investigated the safety and effectiveness of faster aspart as compared to IAsp.
This was done in adults with Type 1 diabetes in a multicenter, phase 3 clinical trial.  The 1143 study participants were randomized to either double blind mealtime faster aspart, mealtime IAsp, or postmeal faster aspart.  Novo Nordisk funded this research, and several of the study authors did disclose that they had financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Novo Nordisk. 

A1c levels were lowered in both of the treatment groups, confirming that faster aspart is NOT inferior to IAsp for mealtime and post meal dosing.  They noted a statistically significant decrease in A1c levels for mealtime faster aspart as compared to IAsp.  At one hour and at two hours following the meal test, the after meal glucose levels were lower with mealtime faster aspart in a way that reached statistical significance.  For the two hour increment, the researchers determined that faster aspart was superior to IAsp.  Between the treatment groups, the safety profiles and rates of severe hypoglycemia episodes were comparable.

As time passes, new and improved products for managing diabetes make their way through clinical trials.
For this drug in development, the study demonstrated that faster aspart is noninferior to IAsp, it improves A1c levels, and that when given at mealtime, faster aspart provides better after-meal blood glucose control than IAsp.  It sounds promising thus far!