FDA approves Lilly/Boehringer Ingelheim type-2 diabetes drug

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Jentadueto XR (linagliptin and metformin hydrochloride extended release) tablets for the treatment of type-2 diabetes in adults.

The drug is marketed in a joint partnership between Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Boehringer Ingelheim and is the seventh new treatment developed from this diabetes collaboration to be approved in the FDA in the last five years.

Jentadueto XR works by combining dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, linagliptin, with metformin. The former increases hormones that stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin and the liver to produce less glucose, while metformin lowers glucose production by the liver and its absorption in the intestine.

Paul Fonteyne, president and CEO at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, says: “Adults with type-2 diabetes are often required to take more than one medication to manage their condition, including some that have to be taken multiple times a day. Jentadueto XR, the first extended-release therapy to emerge from our alliance with Lilly, offers adults with type-2 diabetes the convenience of a combination pill taken once a day to help lower blood sugar levels.”

Sean Murray