A weekly dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor was just as effective at controlling type 2 diabetic patients' blood sugar as a daily DPP-4 inhibitor in a recent randomized clinical trial.

The drug, called omarigliptin, offers the prospect of a more convenient treatment for patients with diabetes.

"The observed glycaemic efficacy in the present study indirectly serves as further evidence of the feasibility of providing DPP-4 inhibition over the period of 1 week with a single once-weekly dose that is similar to that which can be achieved with daily administration," wrote the authors of the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism study.

Article: Randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy and safety of treatment with the once-weekly dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor omarigliptin or the once-daily DPP-4 inhibitor sitagliptin in patients with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on metformin monotherapy, Ronald Goldenberg, Ira Gantz, Paula J. Andryuk BS, Edward A. O'Neill, Keith D. Kaufman, Eseng Lai, Yin Na Wang PhD, Shailaja Suryawanshi and Samuel S. Engel, Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, doi: 10.1111/dom.12832, published 17 January 2017.