Once-Weekly Insulin Efsitora a Practical Option for Type 2 Diabetes, with Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD

Once-weekly insulin efsitora alfa was well-tolerated and efficacious in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) switching from daily basal insulin.

These findings, from the phase 3 QWINT trial in the larger QWINT program evaluating efsitora, were presented by Athea Philis-Tsimikas, MD, corporate vice president of Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute at Scripps Health in San Diego, California, at the 2025 American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions, held June 20-23, in Chicago, Illinois. The findings were also simultaneously published in The Lancet.

HCPLive spoke with Philis-Tsimikas during the meeting to learn more the QWINT program evaluating insulin efsitora alfa in differing populations with T2D and about the latest findings from the QWINT-3 trial that demonstrated weekly injections of efsitora as being non-inferior to daily insulin degludec.

Philis-Tsimikas emphasized that switching from daily to weekly insulin can less the treatment burden in people with T2D. She acknowledged that, in the future clinical setting, primary care physicians may have to adapt to a new paradigm, but it is one that will benefit their patients.

“This will be an interesting way for primary care physicians, in particular, to use insulin, because this is a larger dose than you're normally used to giving… allowing physicians to understand how to give that first dose to get [patients] up to steady state, and then give a maintenance dose thereafter, might be a learning curve, but knowing that the patients overall really like this and it leads to good outcomes for their glucose control, make it worthwhile in the long run,” Philis-Tsimikas told HCPLive.

Philis-Tsimikas's disclosures include Dexcom, Lilly, Medtronic, and Novo Nordisk.

REFERENCE

Philis-Tsimikas A, Bergenstal RM, Bailey TS, et al. Once-weekly insulin efsitora alfa versus once-daily insulin degludec in adults with type 2 diabetes currently treated with basal insulin (QWINT-3): a phase 3, randomised, non-inferiority trial. Published online June 22, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01044-X