* Better glucose control than Januvia or glimepiride
* Significant weight loss seen with J&J's canagliflozin
* Far less hypoglycemia than glimepiride with canagliflozin
* Canagliflozin has been submitted to FDA for approval decision
June 9 (Reuters) - An experimental treatment for type 2 diabetes developed by Johnson & Johnson (TLO: JNJ-U.TI - news) demonstrated greater reduction in blood sugar than Merck (Xetra: A0YD8Q - news) & Co's Januvia and an older common treatment, glimepiride, according to data from a pair of late stage clinical trials.
The J&J drug, canagliflozin, also led to significantly greater weight loss than both of the other drugs and far fewer incidents of hypoglycemia, or potentially dangerous drops in blood sugar levels, than glimepiride, a member of the sulfonylurea class of medicines.
Weight loss is an especially attractive effect as obesity is a leading cause of type 2 diabetes and some older medicines cause weight gain.
Canagliflozin, belongs to a new class of diabetes treatments called SGLT2 inhibitors that work by blocking reabsorption of glucose by the kidney and increases glucose excretion in the urine to lower blood sugar.
The data from the two 52-week studies, presented on Saturday at the American Diabetes Association (ADA (Paris: FR0000053076 - news) ) meeting in Philadelphia, are part of a massive approval application J&J submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week that comprised nine separate Phase III trials involving more than 10,000 patients. If approved it would be the giant healthcare conglomerate's first diabetes medicine.
"There are clearly some unmet needs in diabetes to get glucose control. Hypoglycemia is a big limitation and right now we don't have effective weight loss therapy, so this class of drugs clearly provides clinical benefits," said Dr. William Cefalu, the primary researcher on the glimepiride study.
More here:
J&J diabetes drug tops older therapies in studies
