Avandia helps prevent Type 2 diabetes

The diabetes drug Avandia demonstrated a remarkable ability to prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes in a major new study that was released on Friday. Volunteers taking GlaxoSmithKline's rosiglitazone were 60 percent less likely to develop the disease and also saw a return to normal blood sugar. Over 5,000 patients in 21 countries were recruited for the trial. They were all advised to exercise and diet. Slightly more than half of the patients taking Avandia over three years returned to normal blood sugar levels compared to 30 percent of the patients taking a placebo.

"Balancing both the benefits and the risks suggests that for every 1,000 people treated with rosiglitazone for three years, about 144 cases of diabetes will be prevented, with an excess of four to five cases of congestive heart failure," said lead investigator Dr Hertzel Gerstein, of the Population Health Research Institute in Hamilton, Ontario.

- here's the article on Avandia from The Telegraph

ALSO: For its part, GSK expects to see a mixed response from European governments to the data. Report