Drug dapagliflozin has finally received green signal from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its marketing in the US.
Dapagliflozin, the second of a new class of medications that aims to improve glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes patients, will be marketed under the name Farxiga. With this development, the new drug will join the prominent diabetes medications, including metformin, pioglitazone, glimepiride, sitagliptin and insulin, in the US market.
Canagliflozin was the first in this class of medications to receive FDA’s approval in March last year. Notably, four new Type 2 diabetes drugs are expected to go under the FDA scanner in the coming years.
Dapagliflozin is a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor that helps in blocking the reabsorption of glucose by the kidney. The process in turns helps in increasing the excretion of glucose in urine and lowers glucose levels in the blood.
FDA carried a clinical trial to test the efficiency of the drug. The patients who were given dapagliflozin showed more improvement in blood sugar control than those who were not given the drug. The FDA has asked for further researches to demonstrate the drug’s ability to drive down risks related to heart attacks and strokes as it has not yet been established whether the drug will help in improving such risks for patients with Type 2 diabetes.