Merck’s Diabetes Drug Spurs Weight Loss

Merck said Tuesday its pending diabetes therapy January has shown to be a glucose-controlling drug with a twist — weight loss.

Januva joins the flood of next-generation diabetes therapies that manage to keep blood sugar in check without the weight gain that has long dogged diabetes patients. Merck said a non-inferiority study of Januva showed the drug reduced blood glucose as well as glipizide at 52 weeks, but that patients taking Januva once daily also experienced significant weight loss, while the glipizide-treated group gained weight.

What’s more, subjects receiving Januva also had a lower incidence of hypoglycemia, compared to the control group.

In the new data presented today, Januva demonstrated substantial glucose-lowering effects at one year with a magnitude of (blood glucose) reduction that was non-inferior to that of glipizide, said Peter Stein, Merck’s senior director of clinical research.

Additionally, Januva demonstrated weight loss and fewer episodes of hypoglycemia vs. glipizide. These are important findings for a potential new treatment for type 2 diabetes, he said.

Merck presented the findings at the American Diabetes Association meeting in Washington.

According to a report on CNBC, Arena Pharmaceuticals also has a diabetes drug in the works that has shown to cause some patients in clinical trials to lose as much as 8 pounds in three months. Arena’s drug, however, is not as far along in the pipeline as Merck’s drug, the report noted.