Takeda claims safety advantages for Actos
pharmafile | September 20, 2007 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Â
Takeda says new data on its diabetes drug Actos shows a number of safety advantages over GSK's rival product Avandia.
Two new studies suggest that patients on Actos are more than 20% less likely to have a heart attack than patients on Avandia – but the data remains highly contentious.
Takeda is looking to capitalise on the safety scare surrounding Avandia, following one post-marketing study which claimed GSK's drug significantly raises the risk of a heart attack.
The effect on sales was immediate, with many doctors switching from Avandia to Actos, and reversing their market position, with Takeda's drug the leader with a 67% market share.
Despite the rapid switch-over, there has been little solid evidence to suggest that the cardiovascular profile of Actos is superior to Avandia.
Takeda sponsored two new studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association which suggested Actos patients were less likely to be taken to hospital with cardiovascular complications than those on other type II diabetes drugs or placebo.
Takeda said the findings support Actos' (pioglitazone) cardiovascular safety profile and its benefits in improving blood glucose and blood lipid levels.
"The findings of these studies reinforce the consistency of the pioglitazone data and underscore that Actos has different effects from the other thiazolidinedione, rosiglitazone," the company said in a statement.
The first of the two studies, which was observational, concluded that Actos was associated with a 22% lower risk of hospitalisation for heart attack in patients with type II diabetes compared to GSK's Avandia.
The second concluded Actos was associated with a significantly lower risk of heart attack, stroke or death in patients with diabetes compared to the control therapy. A meta-analysis, it pooled data from a number of different trials in which Actos was variously tested against a control group of either placebo or another diabetes drug.
GSK said it doesn't believe the two studies confirmed a difference between the safety profile of Avandia and Actos, and that the observational study contains no new safety information.
