Novartis highlights Galvus benefits

Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, has highlighted the various benefits associated with its new diabetes drug, Galvus.

The new once-daily therapy for type two diabetes, currently undergoing regulatory approval for use in the US and EU, was found to have comparable effectiveness to rosiglitazone, the insulin sensitiser marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Avandia.

In a new phase III trial, Galvus was found to reduce HbA1c blood sugar levels by 1.8 per cent as a monotherapy, but without weight gain and less fluid retention than patients receiving insulin sensitisers.

Professor Emanuele Bosi, director of the diabetes and endocrinology unit at San Raffaele University Hospital in Milan, commented: “Many patients and physicians have come to unfortunately regard the side effects of current therapies as normal and accept them as part of their treatment.”

He added that the new Galvus results would prove to be “very reassuring” for patients who have to take diabetes medications for a long time.

Novartis submitted Galvus to the EU regulatory authorities last month, along with data from clinical trials involving over 5,400 patients.

In June, Novartis revealed positive trial results that showed that Galvus could be used effectively with pioglitazone, the Takeda insulin sensitiser marketed as Actos.

Some 65 per cent of patients using both drugs simultaneously achieved the American Diabetes Association target HbA1c level of seven per cent or below.