Primary objective:

To demonstrate the non-inferiority of insulin glargine in comparison to insulin detemir in term of percentage of patients who reach the target of HbA1c < 7% at the end of the treatment period and do not experience symptomatic hypoglycemia, confirmed by plasma glucose (PG) ≤ 56 mg/dL (3.1 mmol/L)

Secondary objectives:

• To compare between the 2 treatment groups, the percentage of patients who reach the target of HbA1c < 7% and < 6.5% at the end of the treatment period
• To compare the changes in HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose (FPG)
• To compare the evolution of blood glucose profiles
• To compare the day to day FPG variability, the insulin doses
• To determine in each treatment group the biochemical and patient-related determinants of failure to reach HbA1c targets
• To compare the overall incidence and rate of symptomatic hypoglycemia and nocturnal symptomatic hypoglycemia confirmed by PG ≤ 56 mg/dL (3.1 mmol/L)
• To compare over the treatment period, the overall incidence and rate of symptomatic hypoglycemia and symptomatic nocturnal hypoglycemia (with PG ≤ 70 mg/dL [3.9 mmol/L]), of symptomatic day-time hypoglycemia (with PG ≤ 70 mg/dL and with PG ≤ 56 mg/dL), of severe hypoglycemia, of asymptomatic hypoglycemia with PG ≤ 56 mg/dL
• To compare the overall safety: incidence of adverse events (including serious hypoglycemia and local tolerance at injection site), change in body weight, in waist circumference and in waist / hip ratio
• To assess the quality of life and treatment satisfaction

Inclusion Criteria:

• Type 2 diabetes for at least 1 year
• Insulin naïve
• Treated with stable doses of oral antidiabetics for at least 3 months prior to study start, including at least metformin (at least 1g/day)
• 7% ≤ HbA1c ≤ 10.5 %
• Body mass index (BMI) < 40 kg/m²
• Ability and willingness to perform blood glucose monitoring using a blood glucose meter and to use a patient diary

Exclusion Criteria:

• Type 1 diabetes
• Current or previous use of insulin (except for previous treatment of gestational diabetes or brief treatment with insulin for less than 1 week)
• Treatment with glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 receptor agonists or with dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-IV inhibitors
• Active proliferative diabetic retinopathy, as defined by the application of photocoagulation or surgery, in the 6 months before study entry or any other unstable (rapidly progressing) retinopathy that may require photocoagulation or surgery during the study (an optic fundus examination should have been performed in the 2 years prior to study entry)
• Pregnancy (women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test at study entry and a medically approved contraceptive method)
• Breast-feeding
• History of hypersensitivity to the study drugs or to drugs with a similar chemical structure
• Treatment with systemic corticosteroids in the 3 months prior to study entry
• Treatment with any investigational product in the 2 months prior to study entry
• Likelihood of requiring treatment during the study period with drugs not permitted by the clinical study protocol
• Clinically relevant cardiovascular, hepatic, neurological, endocrine, or other major disease making implementation of the protocol or interpretation of the study results difficult
• Impaired hepatic function as shown by Alamine aminotransferase (ALT) and/or Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) greater than three times the upper limit of normal range at study entry
• Impaired renal function as shown by serum creatinine ≥ 1.5 mg/dL (≥ 133 μmol/L) in men and ≥ 1.4 mg/dL (124 μmol/L) in women at study entry
• History of drug or alcohol abuse in the last year

The above information is not intended to contain all considerations relevant to a patient's potential participation in a clinical trial.