Novo Nordisk announced that it has received approval for the price of Victoza, a once-daily human GLP-1 analogue for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, from Japan’s Central Social Insurance Medical Council (Chuikyo), the advisory committee to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. The price approval allows Novo Nordisk to commercially...

A new study shows eating processed red meat such as hot dogs, bacon, sausage, and cold cuts is linked to increased risks of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and type 2 diabetes. The study, conducted by Harvard University researchers, performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence for relationships of red (unprocessed),...

A new study to be published in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library and reported by EurekAlert suggests that treatment of serious gum (periodontal) disease in type 2 diabetics lowers their blood sugar levels. The research, lead by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, analyzed randomized controlled trials of people with...

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company and Alkermes, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified the Bydureon(TM) complete response as a Class 2 resubmission and assigned a new Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of October 22, 2010. Bydureon (pronounced...

Novo Nordisk (NVO) announced today details of the company’s cardiovascular outcomes trial for Victoza® (liraglutide [rDNA origin] injection), which is set to start in the autumn of 2010. The trial named LEADER™ (Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes: Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcome Results) aims to assess and confirm...

The Type 2 diabetes drug metformin works differently than previously thought, EurekAlert reports. Metformin, marketed first by Bristol-Myers Squibb as Glucophage, is widely prescribed to people with type 2 diabetes and may be extended to the treatment of certain cancers. The drug blocks the production of glucose and increases sensitivity...

Novo Nordisk’s new diabetes drug Victoza proved more effective than Merck & Co’s Januvia in a head-to-head study published, in the Lancet. The 26-week trial showed that Victoza produced significantly greater reductions in HbA1C, fasting plasma glucose and body weight than Januvia, with similar or better overall treatment...

Scientists from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney Australia have shown for the first time that even modest weight loss reverses many of the damaging changes often seen in the immune cells of obese people, particularly in those with Type 2 diabetes. It has been known for some time that excess body fat, particularly...

A research team led by Dr. Alon Chen of the Weizmann Institute’s Neurobiology Department has discovered that changes in the activity of a single gene in the brain not only cause mice to exhibit anxious behavior, but also lead to metabolic changes that cause the mice to develop symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes. These findings...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering stopping a safety study involving thousands of patients taking GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Avandia according to the Wall Street Journal. Avandia has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack. If the trial is stopped, the FDA will also consider asking Glaxo to stop selling...