Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca’s Forxiga given NICE backing

Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca have had their diabetes therapy Forxiga approved by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Final draft guidance published by the regulator has recommended the drug in combination therapy with metformin or insulin as an option for treating type 2 diabetes.

The dapagliflozin-based therapy is a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor that blocks the reabsorption of glucose in the kidneys and promotes excretion of excess glucose in the urine.

Final guidance on the drug is expected to be published later this month and, if positive, would make the treatment more widely available to NHS patients.

Professor Carole Longson, health technology evaluation centre director at NICE, said: "We are pleased to recommend dapagliflozin for some people with type 2 diabetes. It is a serious problem in the UK and dapagliflozin provides another treatment option for some people with this condition."

Last year, AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to expand the scope of their diabetes alliance, following the latter company's acquisition of Amylin Pharmaceuticals.