T_Dia
06-10-2008, 03:30 PM
Roche Holding AG, the world's biggest maker of cancer medicines, will move an experimental diabetes compound into the last stage of testing this year after the once- weekly treatment was effective in an earlier clinical trial.
The medicine, taspoglutide, was shown to lower blood sugar and help with weight loss, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said today. The drug, licensed in 2006 from France's Ipsen SA, was well tolerated, with mild-to-moderate nausea the most common side effect, Roche said. The data was presented at an American Diabetes Association meeting in San Francisco.
Taspoglutide is a so-called GLP-1 analogue, an emerging class of diabetes medicines that use the body's own mechanisms to boost insulin production. Roche is seeking to expand beyond its best-selling cancer drugs and take a share of the $24 billion-a- year diabetes market. The Swiss company has about seven diabetes compounds in development and taspoglutide is the most advanced.
``We are very confident that Roche's innovative drug candidate will continue to deliver good results also in Phase III, which should finally allow the company to significantly leverage its still-growing diabetes franchise,'' Andrew Fellows, an analyst at Helvea in London, wrote in a research note.
Roche fell 2.7 Swiss francs, or 1.5 percent, to 177.7 francs at 10:40 a.m. in Zurich trading. The stock has lost about 9 percent this year, giving the company a market value of 157 billion Swiss francs ($152 billion).
Kidney Failure
GLP-1 analogues mimic a hormone, incretin, which stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin when blood sugar levels rise too much. Diabetics can't produce enough of the insulin needed to absorb sugar, which collects in the blood rather than being absorbed by muscle and fat cells. This accumulation of glucose can lead to kidney failure, blindness and heart disease. Research indicates that GLP-1 analogues can also curb appetite and reduce obesity.
While the active ingredient in the first GLP-1 analogue to be sold, Eli Lilly & Co's Byetta treatment, is derived from Gila monster lizard spit, Roche says its product is a synthesized version of human GLP-1. The molecule is also smaller, allowing for a needle that can be hidden in a disposable pen-like device.
Byetta was introduced in 2005 and is taken as a twice daily injection. France's Sanofi-Aventis SA, London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Denmark's Novo Nordisk A/S are working on similar compounds. Lilly has said it will seek regulatory approval for a weekly formulation of Byetta in 2009, ahead of Roche's planned filing a year later.
Full Article (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aQuHQv60BZ4w&refer=europe).
The medicine, taspoglutide, was shown to lower blood sugar and help with weight loss, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said today. The drug, licensed in 2006 from France's Ipsen SA, was well tolerated, with mild-to-moderate nausea the most common side effect, Roche said. The data was presented at an American Diabetes Association meeting in San Francisco.
Taspoglutide is a so-called GLP-1 analogue, an emerging class of diabetes medicines that use the body's own mechanisms to boost insulin production. Roche is seeking to expand beyond its best-selling cancer drugs and take a share of the $24 billion-a- year diabetes market. The Swiss company has about seven diabetes compounds in development and taspoglutide is the most advanced.
``We are very confident that Roche's innovative drug candidate will continue to deliver good results also in Phase III, which should finally allow the company to significantly leverage its still-growing diabetes franchise,'' Andrew Fellows, an analyst at Helvea in London, wrote in a research note.
Roche fell 2.7 Swiss francs, or 1.5 percent, to 177.7 francs at 10:40 a.m. in Zurich trading. The stock has lost about 9 percent this year, giving the company a market value of 157 billion Swiss francs ($152 billion).
Kidney Failure
GLP-1 analogues mimic a hormone, incretin, which stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin when blood sugar levels rise too much. Diabetics can't produce enough of the insulin needed to absorb sugar, which collects in the blood rather than being absorbed by muscle and fat cells. This accumulation of glucose can lead to kidney failure, blindness and heart disease. Research indicates that GLP-1 analogues can also curb appetite and reduce obesity.
While the active ingredient in the first GLP-1 analogue to be sold, Eli Lilly & Co's Byetta treatment, is derived from Gila monster lizard spit, Roche says its product is a synthesized version of human GLP-1. The molecule is also smaller, allowing for a needle that can be hidden in a disposable pen-like device.
Byetta was introduced in 2005 and is taken as a twice daily injection. France's Sanofi-Aventis SA, London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Denmark's Novo Nordisk A/S are working on similar compounds. Lilly has said it will seek regulatory approval for a weekly formulation of Byetta in 2009, ahead of Roche's planned filing a year later.
Full Article (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aQuHQv60BZ4w&refer=europe).