Solvay extend diabetes drug

The pharmaceutical and chemical group Solvay, of Belgium, are aiming to extend their franchise to incorporate a new product. Synordia, the new product, is intended for use by type 2 diabetes sufferers.
Solvay has submitted Synordia to the EMEA (European Medicines Agency) this week in the hope of an approval. The drug combines oral antidiabetic agent metformin with fenofibrate.
The aim of the drug is to make it easier for diabetes sufferers to control their disease by combining lipid lowerers with oral antidiabetics in a single pill. The company have conducted phase III trials for Synordia, encompassing a study group of over 1,000 patients.
Solvay purchased fenofibrate when it acquired the specialist French pharmaceutical group Fournier Pharma. The drug has proved extremely lucrative both in Europe and abroad. Fenofibrate is a true blockbuster product, with revenues of 265 million euros in the last five months of 2005.
Further combinations are planned between Solvay, AstraZeneca and Abbott. The companies will develop a product involving fenofibrate alongside Crestor (rosuvastatin) that will be submitted for approval to the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in 2009.
The news follows speculation that pharmaceutical companies will be bidding between each other for a share of the lucrative diabetes market .