Alogliptin and Pioglitazone

In a 26 week, randomized, active-controlled study, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus received alogliptin 25 mg coadministered with pioglitazone 30 mg, alogliptin 12.5 mg coadministered with pioglitazone 30 mg, alogliptin 25 mg alone or pioglitazone 30 mg alone. Patients who were randomized to alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg achieved a 26.2% decrease in triglyceride levels from a mean baseline of 214.2 mg/dL compared to an 11.5% decrease for alogliptin alone and a 21.8% decrease for pioglitazone alone. In addition, a 14.4% increase in HDL cholesterol levels from a mean baseline of 43.2 mg/dL was also observed for alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg compared to a 1.9% increase for alogliptin alone and a 13.2% increase for pioglitazone alone. The changes in measures of LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol were similar between alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg versus alogliptin alone and pioglitazone alone. A similar pattern of lipid effects was observed in a 26 week, placebo-controlled factorial study.

Alogliptin

Single-dose administration of alogliptin to healthy subjects resulted in a peak inhibition of DPP-4 within two to three hours after dosing. The peak inhibition of DPP-4 exceeded 93% across doses of 12.5 mg to 800 mg. Inhibition of DPP-4 remained above 80% at 24 hours for doses greater than or equal to 25 mg. Peak and total exposure over 24 hours to active GLP-1 were three- to four-fold greater with alogliptin (at doses of 25 to 200 mg) than placebo. In a 16 week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study alogliptin 25 mg demonstrated decreases in postprandial glucagon while increasing postprandial active GLP-1 levels compared to placebo over an eight-hour period following a standardized meal. It is unclear how these findings relate to changes in overall glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, alogliptin 25 mg demonstrated decreases in two-hour postprandial glucose compared to placebo (-30 mg/dL versus 17 mg/dL respectively).

Multiple-dose administration of alogliptin to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus also resulted in a peak inhibition of DPP-4 within one to two hours and exceeded 93% across all doses (25 mg, 100 mg and 400 mg) after a single dose and after 14 days of once-daily dosing. At these doses of alogliptin, inhibition of DPP-4 remained above 81% at 24 hours after 14 days of dosing.

Cardiac Electrophysiology

In a randomized, placebo-controlled, four-arm, parallel-group study, 257 subjects were administered either alogliptin 50 mg, alogliptin 400 mg, moxifloxacin 400 mg or placebo once daily for a total of seven days. No increase in corrected QT (QTc) was observed with either dose of alogliptin. At the 400 mg dose, peak alogliptin plasma concentrations were 19-fold higher than the peak concentrations following the maximum recommended clinical dose of 25 mg.

Pioglitazone

Clinical studies demonstrate that pioglitazone improves insulin sensitivity in insulin-resistant patients. Pioglitazone enhances cellular responsiveness to insulin, increases insulin-dependent glucose disposal, and improves hepatic sensitivity to insulin. In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the decreased insulin resistance produced by pioglitazone results in lower plasma glucose concentrations, lower plasma insulin concentrations and lower A1C values. In controlled clinical trials, pioglitazone had an additive effect on glycemic control when used in combination with a sulfonylurea, metformin or insulin [see Clinical Studies (14)].

Patients with lipid abnormalities were included in clinical trials with pioglitazone. Overall, patients treated with pioglitazone had mean decreases in serum triglycerides, mean increases in HDL cholesterol and no consistent mean changes in LDL and total cholesterol. There is no conclusive evidence of macrovascular benefit with pioglitazone [see Warnings and Precautions (5.12) and Adverse Reactions (6.1)].

In a 26 week, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging monotherapy study, mean serum triglycerides decreased in the pioglitazone 15 mg, 30 mg and 45 mg dose groups compared to a mean increase in the placebo group. Mean HDL cholesterol increased to a greater extent in patients treated with pioglitazone than in the placebo-treated patients. There were no consistent differences for LDL and total cholesterol in patients treated with pioglitazone compared to placebo (Table 8).

In the two other monotherapy studies (16 weeks and 24 weeks) and in combination therapy studies with sulfonylurea (16 weeks and 24 weeks), metformin (16 weeks and 24 weeks) or insulin (16 weeks and 24 weeks), the lipid results were generally consistent with the data above.