On Friday, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) announced that its diabetes drug dapagliflozin, in combination with metformin (commonly prescribed oral anti-diabetic medication), significantly reduced levels of glycosylated haemoglobin which is an indication of glucose concentration in the blood in type II diabetes patients as compared to placebo plus metformin in a late-stage study. The study enrolled 546 patients aged between 18 and 77.
Bristol-Myers is co-developing dapagliflozin as a once-daily treatment for type-II diabetes with AstraZeneca Plc (AZN).
Dapagliflozin, a member of a class of drugs known as SGLT2 inhibitors, is intended to treat type II diabetes by helping the kidneys eliminate surplus glucose. The results from the 24-week trial, which were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting in Vienna , also revealed that patients who took dapagliflozin had lower blood sugar levels when they were fasting. Furthermore, patients who took dapagliflozin and metformin lost more weight than patients taking metformin and placebo.
The two companies aim to file for approval of the candidate, which has blockbuster potential, in late 2010 or early 2011.
As a reminder, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Onglyza which is also co-developed by Bristol-Myers and AstraZeneca. Onglyza is a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP 4) inhibitor, for type-II diabetes. Onglyza once daily can be used in combination metformin, sulfonylureas or thiazolidinediones – or as a monotherapy to significantly reduce glycosylated hemoglobin levels.
Consequently, we believe, that Bristol can be a major player in the high potential type II diabetes market with a huge unmet need. An estimated 246 million people across the globe suffer from diabetes which is a chronic disease in which the body fails to produce or properly utilize insulin. Most of them have type II diabetes which is a result of poor diet and lack of exercise.
Currently, we have an Outperform rating on Bristol-Myers.
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Read the full analyst report on “AZN”
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