New diabetes therapies launched in China

Wed, 18 Jan 2012
With China having the most adult diabetes patients in the world, the drug giant Novartis have announced the launch of its oral diabetes treatment Galvus (also known as vildagliptin) in the country, as well as receiving approval for Lucentis by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).

Galvus is an oral treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes, and is taken as either a monotherapy or in combination with metformin, a sulphonylurea, a thiazolidinedione or insulin, while Lucentis is used to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the main reason for blindness and severe vision loss in the over 50s.

Lucentis has become the standard therapy for treating wet AMD, a disease that affects the macula, the part of the eye that lets us see fine detail, identify faces and carry out regular activities such as reading and driving.

David Epstein, head of the pharmaceuticals division of Novartis, commented "We are proud to bring Lucentis and Galvus to patients and physicians in China and support the achievement of the Chinese government's public health goals."

There are thought to be up to 75 million people in China who suffer from type 2 diabetes . Ning Guang, an endocrinologist at Ruijing Hospital, said "Uncontrolled diabetes is threatening to overwhelm our healthcare system. It is important that new treatments continue to be made available to help physicians address the growing healthcare need."

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