Diabetes therapies move into the research spotlight

With the American Diabetes Association's research meeting looming later this month, attention is turning to an emerging group of experimental therapies that inhibit the protein SGLT2--sodium glucose cotransporter-2. One analyst has put the spotlight on AVE2268 from Sanofi-Aventis; GlaxoSmithKline's sergliflozin; Taisho's TS 033; and dapagliflozin, from Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca. Data from two of those compounds, dapagliflozin and sergliflozin, are being presented at the meeting. SGLT2 inhibitors are intended to spur patients to excrete more glucose in their urine, helping control blood sugar. The analysts say that the drugs, if approved, would command significant markets as a complementary therapy to standard treatments.

- read the report from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)