Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca announce expansion

Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca have announced an expansion of their partnership to develop and commercialise Dapagliflozin.

The partnership – which began in January 2007 – has enabled the companies to undertake phase III clinical trials of the product, in order to assess its safety and efficacy as a treatment for type two diabetes.

All commercialising expenses are set to be shared, along with any profits and losses.

Lamberto Andreotti, executive vice-president and chief operating officer at Bristol-Myers Squibb, said: “Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca have been working together to develop dapagliflozin for type 2 diabetes for nearly two years – this inclusion of Japan was a natural progression of our collaboration and an important strategic step in our relationship.”

The drug is a novel, selective inhibitor of sodium glucose cotransporter 2, which regulates the reabsortion of glucose within the kidney.

In other news, Bristol-Myers Squibb and a cancer centre have said they are seeking patients with pleural mesothelioma for a clinical trial.

The subjects are being sought for research measuring the effectiveness of Dasatinib – a type of protein-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, also known as Sprycel.

Bristol-Myers Squibb employs 41,000 people and has global sales of $19.3 billion (13.1 billion pounds).