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Positive final-stage study results for type 2 diabetes drug lixisenatide have been announced by Sanofi-aventis.
The French drug manufacturer, which hopes it will challenge Novo Nordisk for the top spot in the treatment of the increasingly prevalent disease, said tests showed injections of lixisenatide significantly improved glycemic control and were particularly effective at controlling glucose after meals.
The drug had proved safe to use, it added in a statement.
Lixisenatide belongs to the GLP-1 class of drugs which stimulate insulin release when glucose levels become too high. It will compete with Novo Nordisk’s Victoza and Amylin and Eli Lilly’s Byetta if it wins marketing approval.
“Once-daily lixisenatide demonstrated significant improvement in glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes,” said the statement by Sanofi.
Sanofi is seeking to broaden its diabetes offering, which includes blockbuster insulin Lantus, and has set up a diabetes division to become more competitive in the fight against a disease whose incidence is rising worldwide as more and more people become overweight.
About 285 million adults are living with diabetes, a number which is expected to surge to 438 million within 20 years, according to Sanofi.
Copyright Press Association 2010
