Virta Health announced today that a study of its diabetes progression prevention treatment proved more effective than initially expected.
Peer-reviewed research in Nutrients highlighted the fact that only 3% of trial participants progressed to Type 2 diabetes, while over half achieved prediabetes reversal during the first two years, according to a news release.
Additionally, the trial observed 75% of patients retained at the two-year mark. Virta Health said the figures “far exceed” outcomes reported for the National Institutes of Health Diabetes Prevention Program (NIH DPP) and its real-world translation, the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP), which is considered the “gold standard” in the prediabetes treatment space.
Over the two years, while 3% of Virta patients progressed to Type 2 diabetes, other treatments saw less effectiveness. In the NIH DPP trial, 8% progressed to Type 2 diabetes in the lifestyle intervention, compared to 15% of those treated with metformin and 22% in the control group.
Virta observed 52% of patients achieve prediabetes reversal, while the company’s patients also experienced average weight loss of 11.3% at two years, more than doubling the NDPP’s 5% goal for prediabetes. While NDPP’s one-year retention was 13.2%, Virta’s was 80%, dropping to 75% at two years.
“The overwhelming number of patients who either achieve normal blood sugar or avoid progression to type 2 diabetes further demonstrates the effectiveness of Virta’s reversal treatment on a variety of metabolic conditions,” Virta Health CMO Dr. Robert Ratner said in the release. “Nutrition modifications can be hard to sustain, but the remarkable adherence and retention demonstrate both the acceptability and durability of the Virta approach in both prevention and treatment of diabetes.”
Virta Health launched in 2017 with a goal of reversing Type 2 diabetes using its technology platform to enable personalized remote care. The company provides physician supervision, health coaches, an app and biomarker tracking tools, as well as a personalized nutrition plan for its patients in the hopes of reversing Type 2 diabetes. According to the company, in clinical studies, 94% of its patients reduce or eliminate insulin use.
