The effectiveness of OSENI has been established based on four adequate and well-controlled Phase 3 trials of alogliptin and pioglitazone as adjunct to diet to improve glycemic control in adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, treatment with alogliptin and pioglitazone produced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in A1C compared to either alogliptin or pioglitazone alone. As is typical for trials of agents to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus, the mean reduction in A1C with alogliptin and pioglitazone appears to be related to the degree of A1C elevation at baseline.

Alogliptin and Pioglitazone Coadministration in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Inadequately Controlled on Diet and Exercise

In a 26-week, double-blind, active-controlled study, a total of 655 patients inadequately controlled on diet and exercise alone (mean baseline A1C=8.8%) were randomized to receive alogliptin 25 mg alone, pioglitazone 30 mg alone, alogliptin 12.5 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg or alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg once daily. Coadministration of alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg resulted in statistically significant improvements from baseline in A1C and FPG compared to either alogliptin 25 mg alone or to pioglitazone 30 mg alone (Table 10). Coadministration of alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg once daily resulted in statistically significant reductions in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) starting from Week 2 through Week 26 compared to either alogliptin 25 mg or pioglitazone 30 mg alone. A total of 3% of patients receiving alogliptin 25 mg coadministered with pioglitazone 30 mg, 11% of those receiving alogliptin 25 mg alone, and 6% of those receiving pioglitazone 30 mg alone required glycemic rescue.

Improvements in A1C were not affected by gender, age or baseline BMI.

The mean increase in body weight was similar between pioglitazone alone and alogliptin when coadministered with pioglitazone.

Alogliptin and Pioglitazone Coadministration in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Inadequately Controlled on Metformin Alone

In the second 26-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, a total of 1554 patients already on metformin (mean baseline A1C=8.5%) were randomized to one of 12 double-blind treatment groups: placebo; 12.5 mg or 25 mg of alogliptin alone; 15 mg, 30 mg or 45 mg of pioglitazone alone; or 12.5 mg or 25 mg of alogliptin in combination with 15 mg, 30 mg or 45 mg of pioglitazone. Patients were maintained on a stable dose of metformin (median dose=1,700 mg) during the treatment period. Coadministration of alogliptin and pioglitazone provided statistically significant improvements in A1C and FPG compared to placebo, to alogliptin alone, or to pioglitazone alone when added to background metformin therapy (Table 11, Figure 3). A total of 4%, 5% or 2% of patients receiving alogliptin 25 mg with 15 mg, 30 mg or 45 mg pioglitazone, 33% of patients receiving placebo, 13% of patients receiving alogliptin 25 mg, and 10%, 15% or 9% of patients receiving pioglitazone 15 mg, 30 mg or 45 mg alone required glycemic rescue.

Improvements in A1C were not affected by gender, age or baseline BMI.

The mean increase in body weight was similar between pioglitazone alone and alogliptin when coadministered with pioglitazone.

Alogliptin Add-On Therapy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Inadequately Controlled on Metformin in Combination with Pioglitazone 

In a 52 week, active-comparator study, a total of 803 patients inadequately controlled (mean baseline A1C=8.2%) on a current regimen of pioglitazone 30 mg and metformin at least 1500 mg per day or at the maximum tolerated dose were randomized to either receive the addition of alogliptin 25 mg or the titration of pioglitazone 30 mg to 45 mg following a four week, single-blind, placebo run-in period. Patients were maintained on a stable dose of metformin (median dose=1700 mg). Patients who failed to meet prespecified hyperglycemic goals during the 52-week treatment period received glycemic rescue therapy.

In combination with pioglitazone and metformin, alogliptin 25 mg was shown to be statistically superior in lowering A1C and FPG compared with the titration of pioglitazone from 30 mg to 45 mg at Week 26 and Week 52 (Table 13, results shown only for Week 52). A total of 11% of patients who were receiving alogliptin 25 mg in combination with pioglitazone 30 mg and metformin and 22% of patients receiving a dose titration of pioglitazone from 30 mg to 45 mg in combination with metformin required glycemic rescue.

Improvements in A1C were not affected by gender, age, race or baseline BMI. The mean increase in body weight was similar in both treatment arms. Lipid effects were neutral.

Alogliptin Add-On Therapy to a Thiazolidinedione

A 26-week, placebo-controlled study, was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of alogliptin as add-on therapy to pioglitazone in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 493 patients inadequately controlled on a thiazolidinedione alone or in combination with metformin or a sulfonylurea (mean baseline A1C=8%) were randomized to receive alogliptin 12.5 mg, alogliptin 25 mg or placebo. Patients were maintained on a stable dose of pioglitazone (median dose=30 mg) during the treatment period and those who were also previously treated on metformin (median dose=2,000 mg) or sulfonylurea (median dose=10 mg) prior to randomization were maintained on the combination therapy during the treatment period. All patients entered into a four week, single-blind, placebo run-in period prior to randomization. Following randomization, all patients continued to receive instruction on diet and exercise. Patients who failed to meet prespecified hyperglycemic goals during the 26-week treatment period received glycemic rescue.

The addition of alogliptin 25 mg once daily to pioglitazone therapy resulted in significant improvements from baseline in A1C and FPG at Week 26 when compared to the addition of placebo (Table 14). A total of 9% of patients who were receiving alogliptin 25 mg and 12% of patients receiving placebo required glycemic rescue.

The improvement in A1C was not affected by gender, age, baseline BMI or baseline pioglitazone dose. The mean increase in body weight was similar between alogliptin and placebo when given in combination with pioglitazone. Lipid effects were neutral.

Cardiovascular Safety Trial

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cardiovascular outcomes trial (EXAMINE) was conducted to evaluate the cardiovascular risk of alogliptin. The trial compared the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) between alogliptin (N=2,701) and placebo (N=2,679) when added to standard of care therapies for diabetes and atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASCVD). The trial was event driven and patients were followed until a sufficient number of primary outcome events accrued.

Eligible patients were adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus who had inadequate glycemic control at baseline (e.g., HbA1c >6.5%) and had been hospitalized for an acute coronary syndrome event (e.g., acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina requiring hospitalization) 15 to 90 days prior to randomization. The dose of alogliptin was based on estimated renal function at baseline per dosage and administration recommendations [see Dosage and Administration (2.3)]. The average time between an acute coronary syndrome event and randomization was approximately 48 days.

The mean age of the population was 61 years. Most patients were male (68%), White (73%), and were recruited from outside of the U.S. (86%). Asian and Black or African American patients contributed 20% and 4% of the total population, respectively. At the time of randomization patients had a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus for approximately 9 years, 87% had a prior myocardial infarction and 14% were current smokers. Hypertension (83%) and renal impairment (27% with an eGFR ≤60 ml/min/1.73 m2) were prevalent co-morbid conditions. Use of medications to treat diabetes (e.g., metformin 73%, sulfonylurea 54%, insulin 41%), and ASCVD (e.g., statin 94%, aspirin 93%, renin-angiotensin system blocker 88%, beta-blocker 87%) was similar between patients randomized to alogliptin and placebo at baseline. During the trial, medications to treat diabetes and ASCVD could be adjusted to ensure care for these conditions adhered to standard of care recommendations set by local practice guidelines.

The primary endpoint in EXAMINE was the time to first occurrence of a MACE defined as the composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), or nonfatal stroke. The study was designed to exclude a pre-specified risk margin of 1.3 for the hazard ratio of MACE. The median exposure to study drug was 526 days and 95% of the patients were followed to study completion or death.

Table 15 shows the study results for the primary MACE composite endpoint and the contribution of each component to the primary MACE endpoint. The upper bound of the confidence interval was 1.16 and excluded a risk margin larger than 1.3.

The Kaplan-Meier based cumulative event probability is presented in Figure 4 for the time to first occurrence of the primary MACE composite endpoint by treatment arm. The curves for placebo and alogliptin overlap throughout the duration of the study. The observed incidence of MACE was highest within the first 60 days after randomization in both treatment arms (14.8 MACE per 100 PY), decreased from day 60 to the end of the first year (8.4 per 100 PY) and was lowest after one year of follow-up (5.2 per 100 PY).

The rate of all cause death was similar between treatment arms with 153 (3.6 per 100 PY) recorded among patients randomized to alogliptin and 173 (4.1 per 100 PY) among patients randomized to placebo. A total of 112 deaths (2.9 per 100 PY) among patients on alogliptin and 130 among patients on placebo (3.5 per 100 PY) were adjudicated as cardiovascular deaths.