Sanofi and Novo to face off in diabetes sphere following FDA approvals
pharmafile | November 22, 2016 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing | FDA, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Soliqua, Xultophy, diabetes
Sanofi and Novo are set to face off in the diabetes market after the FDA approved combination treatments from the two major drugmakers.
Novo’s Xultophy) and Sanofi’s Soliqua have been approved for tackling type-2 diabetes in adults as combination treatments which bring together insulin and GLP-1 receptor agonists to improve glycaemic control. Both treatments are administered once-daily via injection.
Soliqua, a combination of the company’s Lantus (insulin glargine) and lixisenatide, demonstrated an improved HbA1c (average blood sugar over time) lowering compared to Lantus alone, with 55% versus 30% of trial participants achieving less than 7% by 30 weeks. The firm aims to have the drug on the market by January of next year.
“Sanofi continues to be a pioneer in developing diabetes therapies and in bringing forward new treatment options for the approximately 50 percent of patients whose blood sugar levels remain uncontrolled on daily basal insulin,” commented Elias Zerhouni, president, global R&D at Sanofi. “Soliqua 100/33 is an alternate new approach that can help adults living with type 2 diabetes uncontrolled on basal insulin or lixisenatide to reach their treatment goal.”
Xultophy combines Tresiba (insulin degludec) and GLP-1 analogue Victoza (liraglutide). In Phase III trials, patients taking the treatment displayed a HbA1c reduction of 1.7% at 26 weeks.
“We are pleased with the approval of Xultophy 100/3.6 and look forward to launching it in the US in the first half of 2017,” said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, executive VP and CSO of Novo Nordisk. “We believe Xultophy 100/3.6 offers significant benefits and is an important and convenient treatment option especially for people not achieving sufficient glycaemic control with basal insulin.”
Novo hopes to bring the drug to market sometime in the first half of 2017.
Matt Fellows
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