‘Trajenta leads antidiabetic drug market with convenience, safety’

“Type-2 diabetes treatment Trajenta (ingredient: linagliptin), an oral once-daily medication without the need for a dose control, ranked first in market share among single agents excluding insulin.”

On Tuesday, Boehringer Ingelheim Korea held a news conference celebrating the 10th anniversary of the market release of Trajenta and shared the background of the drug development and the drug’s clinical value.

Boehringer Ingelheim released Trajenta, a DPP-4 inhibitor, in 2011. Taken once daily in a single dose, the treatment shows consistent efficacy regardless of the patient’s renal or hepatic dysfunction. As Trajenta does not interact with many other drugs such as metformin, glyburide, simvastatin, warfarin, digoxin, and oral contraceptives, it is often used as an antidiabetic drug in local clinical trials.

Boehringer Ingelheim Korea’s Trajenta Marketing Manager Lee Ga-young (above), Head of Marketing and Director Hwang In-hwa (left, below), and Head of Sales and Director Lee Jin-haeng introduce Trajenta’s growth rate and market share in the Korean DPP-4 inhibitor market.

Dr. Thomas Meinicke, who led Trajenta trials, said the treatment had confirmed a meaningful effect to lower blood sugar regardless of age, renal function, race, and body mass index through ongoing studies since the market release in 2011.

In comprehensive clinical studies of CARMELINA and CAROLINA, he emphasized that Trajenta also proved cardiac and renal long-term safety.

In the CARMELINA trial, Trajenta did not increase the risk of cardiovascular and renal events or hospitalization for heart failure, compared to placebo, in patients with type-2 diabetes with cardiovascular and renal disease.

In the CAROLINA study on patients with early type-2 diabetes with elevated cardiovascular risk, Trajenta did not raise the risk of the onset of cardiovascular disease compared to the control drug glimepiride. It also confirmed a similar glycated hemoglobin control effect without hypoglycemia, weight gain, or the need for rescue drugs.

The treatment demonstrated a consistent effect in Asian and elderly patients in a subgroup analysis of CARMELINA and CAROLINA.

“Trajenta not only confirmed the safety profile through the largest number of cardiovascular studies among DPP-4 inhibitors but proved the safety for renal-related events,” Meinicke said.

Through subgroup analysis studies according to age, race, and renal functions, Boehringer Ingelheim has been making efforts to provide an effective treatment option for a broader group of patients, he added.

At the news conference, Boehringer Ingelheim Korea’s Trajenta Marketing Manager Lee Ga-young, Head of Marketing and Director Hwang In-hwa, and Head of Sales and Director Lee Jin-haeng introduced Trajenta’s growth rate and market share data in the Korean DPP-4 inhibitor market.

“If DPP-4 inhibitors are administered with inappropriate doses, the risk of death, severe disease, and hypoglycemia increase. But Trajenta is a single dose treatment without the need for dose adjustment or dose increase,” Trajenta Marketing Manager Lee Ga-young said.

Such strengths made Trajenta secure the largest market share among single agents, excluding insulin, she said.

Lee Jin-haeng, head of sales, said Boehringer Ingelheim was competent in primary care. Since the launch of Trajenta, the company has been actively collaborating with health professionals and medical societies.

“This is the strength of our sales in the diabetes market,” he emphasized.

Also, partnership with Yuhan Corp. for Twynsta led to robust sales of Trajenta, he added.

Hwang In-hwa, head of marketing, said Trajenta is Boehringer Ingelheim Korea’s largest-selling product line, and it helped the company secure leadership in the non-insulin diabetes treatment market.

Boehringer Ingelheim is investing in various digital tools such as social media and metaverse to accurately and continuously inform the clinical value of Trajenta and the latest medical/pharmaceutical information, she went on to say.

“With this, we will continue to deliver the value of convenience in daily life to doctors and type-2 diabetic patients,” she said.