- Question
- Does adding once-weekly dulaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, to existing antihyperglycaemic therapy reduce major adverse cardiovascular events in people with type 2 diabetes, with or without previous cardiovascular disease and across a wide range of glycaemic control?
- Design
- Multicentre, randomised 1:1, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted at 371 sites in 24 countries, enrolling 9901 participants with a median follow-up of 5.4 years. Analysis was by intention to treat.
- Population
- Men and women aged 50 years or older with type 2 diabetes who had either a previous cardiovascular event or cardiovascular risk factors. Mean age was 66.2 years, median HbA1c was 7.2%, and 46.3% were women.
- Intervention
- Dulaglutide 1.5 mg by weekly subcutaneous injection, added to existing antidiabetic therapy.
- Control
- Weekly subcutaneous placebo injection, added to existing antidiabetic therapy.
- Primary outcome
- First occurrence of the composite of non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes (including unknown causes).
- Results
- The primary outcome occurred in 594 participants (12.0%) with dulaglutide and 663 (13.4%) with placebo (HR 0.88; 95% CI 0.79-0.99; p=0.026). All-cause mortality did not differ significantly between groups (HR 0.90; 95% CI 0.80-1.01; p=0.067).
- Safety
- Gastrointestinal adverse events were more frequent with dulaglutide (47.4%) than with placebo (34.1%) (p<0.0001).
- Conclusion
- Dulaglutide reduced major adverse cardiovascular events compared with placebo in people with type 2 diabetes who had previous cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors.
- Why it matters
- It extended the evidence of cardiovascular benefit with GLP-1 receptor agonists to a broader population, including people without established cardiovascular disease and with varied glycaemic control.
Card generated automatically with AI from the abstract of the original publication and the trial registry; every figure was checked against those sources. It may contain errors: verify the data at the source before using it for clinical decisions.
Generated on October 14, 2026