FDA Approves New Oral Drug for Type 2 Diabetes

By Diane Fennell On August 1, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the oral diabetes drug Jardiance (generic name empagliflozin) for use, along with a healthful diet and exercise, in adults with Type 2 diabetes. The medicine, a joint development of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly and Company, joins Invokana (canagliflozin) and Farxiga (dapagliflozin) as a member of the class of drugs known as sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. In the process of filtering the blood, the kidneys typically reabsorb all the filtered glucose and return it to the bloodstream. One of the main proteins responsible for this reabsorption is SGLT2. By inhibiting the action of SGLT2, Jardiance blocks the reabsorption of glucose by the kidneys, promoting a loss of glucose in the urine and lowering blood glucose levels. The medicine comes in tablet strengths of 10 milligrams and 25 milligrams, to be taken once daily. The safety and effectiveness of Jardiance were established through seven clinical trials, involving 4,480 people with Type 2 diabetes, that showed improvements in fasting blood glucose levels and A1C levels (a measure of blood glucose control over the previous 2–3 months) in those taking the drug. Clinical trials also showed modest reductions in both body weight and systolic blood pressure (the top number) in people using the medicine. In an interview with Medscape Medical News, the FDA noted that Boehringer Ingelheim had corrected ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs