Daiichi Sankyo Steps Up Development of New Diabetes Drug (Japan)
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
Daiichi Sankyo Co. is accelerating development of a candidate compound to treat type 2 diabetes. CS-011 is a glitazone-type drug that promotes absorption of sugars from the blood by activating muscle and fat tissues, and also inhibits the release of sugars from the liver. Both Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and GlaxoSmithKline Plc are already marketing glitazone diabetes drugs, and each is enjoying sales of roughly 300 billion yen a year. According to Daiichi Sankyo, its candidate compound CS-011 has a different molecular structure than these two drugs and promises to be more effective. The company has now moved into the third and final phase of clinical trials on CS-011 in Europe and the U.S., and has also moved into phase II efficacy trials in Japan. It hopes to develop this diabetes compound into a mainline product that can stand shoulder to shoulder with its hyperlipidemia drug. (Print Edition Only: Link To Full Text Unavailable