PARSIPPANY, N.J., January 18, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Welchol(TM) (colesevelam HCl) to improve glycemic control (measured as hemoglobin A1C) in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus in combination with metformin, sulfonylureas, or insulin, either alone or in combination with other anti-diabetic agents. Welchol is now the first and only medication approved to reduce both glucose levels and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (LDL-C). The ADA estimates that 20.8 million people in the United States have diabetes with more than 90 percent of these people having type 2 diabetes.(1) Forty percent of patients with type 2 diabetes also have high LDL-cholesterol.(2) Welchol is a new option that addresses both these chronic health conditions and provides physicians with a unique therapeutic approach for treating patients with type 2 diabetes.
Pivotal data presented at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) 67th Annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago in June, 2007 demonstrated that Welchol can lower both A1C and LDL-C levels in patients with type 2 diabetes who were uncontrolled on a metformin-based regimen. Patients in the study were randomly assigned to two groups. The addition of Welchol was compared to the addition of placebo in patients on a metformin-based regimen. The addition of Welchol (n=79) to pre-existing metformin monotherapy achieved a significant mean reduction in A1C levels of 0.47 percent relative to placebo (p<0.0024). Further, the total Welchol treatment group, when treated with either metformin monotherapy or metformin-combination therapy, achieved significantly greater reductions in A1C levels compared to placebo (mean reduction of 0.54%, p<0.001). The study further demonstrated that the total Welchol treatment group achieved significantly lower LDL-C levels compared to the placebo group (mean reduction of 15.9%, p<0.001).
In addition, two other pivotal studies showed similar results in A1C reductions when Welchol was added to either sulfonylurea-based therapy or insulin-based therapy. In patients with type 2 diabetes who were inadequately controlled on sulfonylurea-based therapy the addition of Welchol was shown to have significant reductions in A1C (mean reduction of 0.54%; p<0.001) vs. placebo at week 26. In patients inadequately controlled with insulin, alone or in combination with other anti-diabetic agents, the addition of Welchol was shown to have a significant mean reduction in A1C (mean reduction of 0.50%: p<0.0001) vs. placebo.
"Welchol now offers physicians a treatment option that addresses two major cardiovascular risk factors; elevated LDL cholesterol and blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes," said Ronald B. Goldberg, MD, an investigator in the insulin and metformin pivotal studies and Professor of Medicine at the Division of Diabetes and Metabolism and Associate Director of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine in Florida. "Cardiovascular risk factors are of great concern because patients with type 2 diabetes have a significantly increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Once clinical cardiovascular disease develops, these patients have a poorer prognosis than normoglycemic patients."
Since 2000, Welchol, a bile acid sequestrant, has been indicated, alone or in combination with a statin, for the reduction of elevated LDL-C in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia. It is different from most other cholesterol-lowering drugs on the market because it is non-systemic, meaning that the body does not absorb it and it is eliminated without traveling to the liver or kidneys. Therefore, Welchol is not expected to have drug interactions via the cytochrome P450 pathway. Systemic medications, which include statins, fibrates and cholesterol absorption inhibitors, are those that are absorbed from the intestine into the bloodstream and travel throughout the body, specifically to the liver and/or kidneys.
Additionally, Welchol has demonstrated beneficial effects on other lipid parameters such as HDL-C and APO-B. Welchol has also been studied in combination with fenofibrate in patients with mixed dyslipidemia (Fredrickson Type IIb), and provided additional LDL-C reductions in these patients when added to a stable fenofibrate regimen. Welchol is not indicated for use in combination with fenofibrate or in the treatment of mixed dyslipidemia or lipid parameters other than LDL-C.
"We are excited by the opportunity to help more patients with chronic conditions reach their recommended health goals," said Joseph P. Pieroni, President and CEO of Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. "This approval represents an important milestone for our growing U.S. organization and underscores our continued commitment to combating cardiovascular and metabolic diseases."
People with diabetes face significantly higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease.(3) The ADA recommends that patients with type 2 diabetes target an A1C level of < 7%.(4) A1C is a common test for persistent hyperglycemia ("too much glucose in the blood"). Additionally, the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) recommends that patients with type 2 diabetes keep their cholesterol levels in check and target an LDL-C goal of < 100 mg/dL.(5) Despite this recommendation, nearly 40 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes have LDL cholesterol levels greater than 130 mg/dL.(6)
It is estimated that half of all Americans have elevated blood cholesterol levels that can negatively impact their health and quality of life.(7) According to the National Healthcare Quality Report, nearly 40 percent of adults with high cholesterol also have type 2 diabetes.(8)
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