Savvy Updates, 4/27/18: 90-Day Sensor, SGLT-2 Inhibitors, Pancreas Quiz

A 90-Day CGM? FDA Panel Votes in Favor of Senseonics’ Eversense, all about the FDA recommendation for the 90-day implantable CGM, was reported by Ben Pallant, Maeve Serino and Adam Brown on diaTribe.com, 12 April, 2018.

On March 29, an advisory panel recommended that the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) should approve Senseonics’s Eversense 90-day implantable continuous glucose monitoring system (CGM), on-body transmitter, and mobile app. The panel unanimously voted 8-0 that Eversense is safe, effective, and has benefits that outweigh any associated risks. This advisory panel vote makes it likely that the FDA will ultimately approve Eversense, bringing a new CGM option to the US. Senseonics has previously said that Eversense could be available in the US in the middle of 2018; the actual timing will depend on when the FDA approves it.

What is truly novel about Eversense is the glucose sensor, which is the size of a small pill and stays implanted under the skin for 90 days. This long wear time minimizes the frequent through-the-skin needle insertions required with current CGMs, which are typically replaced every 7-14 days (Abbott, Dexcom, Medtronic). Eversense is implanted under the skin of a user’s upper arm in a five-minute procedure that can be done in a typical doctor’s office.

SGLT-2 Inhibitors: The Best Bet Among New Diabetes Drugs?, according to a large meta-analysis of clinical trials that compared the newer classes of diabetes drugs head-to-head in terms of mortality, cardiovascular, and safety endpoints, reported on MedPageToday, 17 April 2018.

Compared with control groups, SGLT-2 inhibitors were associated with reduced all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.80, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.89), as were GLP-1 agonists (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.94). However, DPP-4 inhibitors were not (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.11).