Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly’s Trajenta receives expanded EU approval

Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly have announced that their diabetes therapy Trajenta (linagliptin) has been approved in an expanded therapeutic indication by the European Commission.

The regulatory body has ratified the DPP-4 inhibitor for use in combination with insulin in adults with type 2 diabetes, based on data from several phase III clinical trials.

Results from these studies showed that adding Trajenta to insulin delivered better glucose control than insulin alone after 24 weeks, without an additional risk of hypoglycaemia.

It means that the therapy is now indicated for use in combination with insulin with or without metformin, when this regimen plus diet and exercise does not provide adequate glycaemic control on its own.

Professor Klaus Dugi, corporate senior vice-president for medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "This expanded indication shows that linagliptin is an effective treatment for patients at various stages of type 2 diabetes."

This comes after Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly launched their new type 2 diabetes therapy Jentadueto in the UK earlier this month.