Improving glycemic control with insulin detemir using the 303 Algorithm in insulin naïve patients with type 2 diabetes: A subgroup analysis of the US PREDICTIVE 303 study

Objective: PREDICTIVE 303 was a 26-week, prospective, randomized, open-label, multi-center study in patients with type 2 diabetes that investigated whether patient-driven adjustments of insulin detemir doses using the 303 Algorithm achieved similar glycemic control compared to standard-of-care, physician-driven adjustments in doses. This post hoc sub-analysis evaluates insulin naïve patients on oral anti-diabetic drugs (OADs) who were directed to start on once-daily insulin detemir as add-on therapy to any other glucose-lowering regimens. Methods: Patients in the 303 Algorithm group were instructed to adjust their detemir dose every 3 days based on mean fasting plasma glucose (FPG) values using a simple algorithm: mean FPG < 80 mg/dL, reduce dose by 3 units; between 80-110 mg/dL, no change; > 110 mg/dL, increase by 3 units. Physicians adjusted the detemir dose for patients in the Standard-of-care group according to their usual practice. No control insulin was used for comparison to insulin detemir. Results: Reductions in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) from baseline were similar between those patients in the 303 Algorithm and Standard-of-care groups (-1.1 and -1.0%, respectively; between group p = 0.0933); patients in the 303 Algorithm group achieved a greater reduction in FPG. Patients in both groups experienced a similar, tow rate of hypoglycemia. Over 95% and 92% of patients, respectively, used detemir once daily. Conclusion: These data indicate that patients with type 2 diabetes naïve to insulin can effectively implement the 303 Algorithm to initiate and adjust a once-daily dose of insulin detemir to achieve improvements in glycemic control.