New Type 2 Medications
The FDA approved Bristol-Meyer Squibb's Glucovance. This is a combination of Gluophage and glyburide, a generic oral agent. The company called this a "next generation" product that treats the twin causes of type 2 diabetes, insulin deficiency and insulin resistance. Glucovance will be shipped with the second week of August. Side effects include lactic acidosis in persons with kidney problems. Also diarrhea, nausea and upset stomach and to a lesser extent hypoglycemia can all be side effects of the medication. It is contraindicated in persons with kidney problems, people over 80 years of age unless they first have kidney testing, persons taking heart failure medications and those with a history of liver disease or those who drink alcohol excessively.
DepoMed Announces Promising Phase 1 results for a once-daily Metformin called Metformin GR which is designed to provide an alternative to Glucophage, Bristol-Meyers Squibb's market leading diabetes medication. A larger phase ll trial is scheduled to begin in the third quarter. The extended release product is formulated using the company's Gastric Retention (GR) delivery technology in which the stomach retains large objects for further digestion, the GR System swells following ingestion and is retained in the stomach for a number of hours.