Dapagliflozin: A Review in Type 1 Diabetes

Oral dapagliflozin (Edistride®, Forxiga®) is approved in the EU at a dosage of 5 mg/day as an adjunct to insulin in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and a body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 27 kg/m2, when insulin alone does not provide adequate glycaemic control despite optimal insulin therapy. As a highly selective SGLT2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin decreases plasma glucose levels independently of insulin action and enables glycaemic control improvement without increasing the risks associated with intensive insulin therapy. In the phase III DEPICT-1 and -2 trials, dapagliflozin 5 mg/day as an adjunct to insulin improved glycaemic control and reduced total daily insulin dose and bodyweight relative to placebo in adults with inadequately controlled T1D, including in patients with a BMI of ≥ 27 kg/m2, over 24 weeks of treatment. In extensions of these trials, these improvements were maintained up to 52 weeks. Dapagliflozin was generally well tolerated with a manageable safety profile and a hypoglycaemia profile generally similar to placebo. The incidence of diabetic ketoacidosis with dapagliflozin in patients with a BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2 was less than half that of the overall population who received dapagliflozin. Dapagliflozin is the first SGLT2 inhibitor to be approved for use in T1D and, while further clinical experience in T1D is required to more definitively establish its efficacy and safety profile, it provides a promising adjunctive treatment option for adults with T1D and a BMI of ≥ 27 kg/m2, when insulin alone does not provide adequate glycaemic control despite optimal insulin therapy.