Diabetes drug lixisenatide shows success in late stage trial

Tue, 12 Apr 2011
Pharma giant Sanofi-Aventis has said that the experimental diabetes drug lixisenatide has shown significant success in lowering a key measure of blood glucose and blood sugar, as well as body weight, during a late stage trial. The results from the trial follow on from previous success in earlier trials into the drug.

The trial results are a further positive measure for the effectiveness of the drug in reducing levels of blood sugar in people suffering from type 2 diabetes . The trial also revealed that lixisenatide did not substantially raise the risk of symptomatic hypoglycemia, as compared to that of a placebo .

The study on lixisenatide, a GLP-1 class of drugs that stimulate insulin release when levels of glucose get too high, is the most recent in a broader programme by the company to offer more effective therapies for diabetes patients, which includes their insulin gargline Lantus, a long-acting basal insulin analogue. Sanofi-Aventis have also recently bought out the American biotech firm Genzyme, and put in place a new diabetes division.

If the drug achieves marketing approval, it will provide an alternative to Victoza, developed by Novo Nordisk, and Byetta, which is produced by Amylin .

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