GlaxoSmithKline files for EU approval of new diabetes drug

GlaxoSmithKline has filed for European regulatory approval of a new treatment for type 2 diabetes that it hopes to market under the brand name Eperzan.

The pharmaceutical company has submitted a marketing authorisation application to the European Medicines Agency for the investigational compound albiglutide, a once-weekly therapy for adult patients with type 2 diabetes that is yet to be approved anywhere in the world.

GlaxoSmithKline also submitted a regulatory application for the drug to the US Food and Drug Administration in January 2013.

It is a receptor agonist of GLP-1, a peptide normally secreted from the gastrointestinal tract during a meal which helps release insulin to control blood sugar elevations after eating, the production of which is impaired in people with type 2 diabetes.

Albiglutide has been developed to remedy this problem by offering a longer duration of action by being comprised of two copies of modified human GLP-1 fused in series to human albumin.

Last month, the company also filed for European regulatory approval of its new melanoma drug trametinib, a review process that is currently ongoing.