AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dapagliflozin accepted for review

AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb have announced that their new diabetes treatment dapagliflozin has been accepted for regulatory review on both sides of the Atlantic.

The European Medicines Agency has validated the companies' marketing authorisation application for the therapy, while the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the compound for a review of its new drug application.

Dapagliflozin is a novel type 2 diabetes treatment that functions by targeting and inhibiting sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 in the kidneys, which can help to control glucose levels independently of insulin pathways.

The submissions in the EU and US are supported by clinical trial data collated over two years from 40 individual studies, which involved around 6,000 patients in total.

AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb have produced the drug as part of their ongoing collaboration in the field of diabetes, which commenced in 2007.

Earlier this month, AstraZeneca entered into a new drug development partnership with Galderma that will focus on research into treatments for skin conditions.