Cost

  • high
  • low
  • moderate

Medication Type

  • injected
  • oral

Feature

  • generic available

Drug Class

  • alpha-glucosidase inhibitors
  • amylin analog
  • biguanides
  • bile acid sequestrants
  • dopamine-2 agonists
  • dpp-4 inhibitors
  • glp-1 receptor agonists
  • insulin + glp-1 receptor agonists
  • meglitinides
  • mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist
  • sglt-2 inhibitors
  • sulfonylureas
  • tzds

Oral/Injectable Medications and Infusions

In addition to insulin, numerous other medications are available to help manage diabetes. These treatments include oral (pill or liquid form), non-insulin injectable, and IV medications. 

Many of the non-insulin agents are only approved for use in type 2 diabetes but to know what medication is best for you, you'll need to make that decision with your diabetes care team. Factors such as type of diabetes, other health conditions, glucose (blood sugar) trends, lifestyle, and cost considerations play a role in the decision-making process.

 Medications are listed as: Brand name (generic name)


Actos (pioglitazone)

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Amaryl (glimepiride)

Sanofi U.S.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Avandia (rosiglitazone)

GlaxoSmithKline

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Byetta (exenatide)

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Injectable type 2 diabetes medication

CYCLOSET (bromocriptine)

VeroScience, LLC

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

FARXIGA (dapagliflozin)

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Glucotrol (glipizide)

Pfizer Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Glucotrol XL (glipizide extended release)

Pfizer Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Glyburide

generic

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Glynase PresTab (glyburide, glibenclamide)

Pfizer Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Glyset (miglitol)

Pfizer Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

INVOKANA (canagliflozin)

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

JANUMET (sitagliptin and metformin)

Merck & Co., Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

JANUVIA (sitagliptin)

Merck & Co., Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

JARDIANCE (empagliflozin)

Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

KERENDIA (finerenone)

Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Metformin

generic

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Mounjaro (tirzepatide)

Eli Lilly and Co.

Injectable type 2 diabetes medication

Nesina (alogliptin)

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

ONGLYZA (saxagliptin)

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Ozempic (semaglutide)

Novo Nordisk

Injectable type 2 diabetes medication

Prandin (repaglinide)

generic

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Precose (acarbose)

generic

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

RYBELSUS (semaglutide)

Novo Nordisk

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

SEGLUROMET (ertugliflozin and metformin)

Merck & Co., Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Soliqua 100/33 (insulin glargine/lixisenatide)

Sanofi U.S.

Injectable type 2 diabetes medication

Starlix (nateglinide)

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Steglatro (ertugliflozin)

Merck & Co., Inc.

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

SYMLIN (pramlintide acetate)

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Injectable type 2 diabetes medication

TRADJENTA (linagliptin)

Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly

Oral type 2 diabetes medication

Trijardy XR

Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly

Oral type 2 medication

Trulicity (dulaglutide)

Eli Lilly and Co.

Injectable type 2 diabetes medication

Tzield (teplizumab-mzwv)

Sanofi

Type 1 onset-delaying infusion

Victoza (liraglutide)

Novo Nordisk

Injectable type 2 diabetes medication

Welchol (colesevelam HCI)

Daiichi Sankyo

Oral type 2 diabetes medication