Metformin News and Research

RSS

Metformin is the active ingredient in a drug used to treat diabetes mellitus (a condition in which the body cannot control the level of sugar in the blood). It is also being studied in the treatment of cancer. It decreases the amount of glucose (a type of sugar) released into the bloodstream from the liver and increases the body’s use of the glucose. Metformin is a type of antidiabetic agent.

No added benefit from linagliptin in patients with type 2 diabetes

Linagliptin has been approved since August 2011 to improve blood glucose control in adults with type 2 diabetes. The assessment of the new dossier according to the German Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) again showed that no added benefit of the drug over the appropriate comparator therapy (ACT) can be determined, because the pharmaceutical company has not submitted any relevant studies.

31 Jan 2013

Phenformin decreases size of lung tumors and increases survival in mice

Ever since discovering a decade ago that a gene altered in lung cancer regulated an enzyme used in therapies against diabetes, Reuben Shaw has wondered if drugs originally designed to treat metabolic diseases could also work against cancer.

30 Jan 2013

FDA approves Takeda’s NESINA, OSENI and KAZANO for treatment of type 2 diabetes

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. today announced that the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved NESINA (alogliptin) and the fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapies OSENI (alogliptin and pioglitazone) and KAZANO (alogliptin and metformin HCl) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults as adjuncts to diet and exercise.

28 Jan 2013

Takeda receives FDA approval for Nesina, Kazano and Oseni to treat type 2 diabetes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved three new related products for use with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes: Nesina (alogliptin) tablets, Kazano (alogliptin and metformin hydrochloride) tablets, and Oseni (alogliptin and pioglitazone) tablets.

28 Jan 2013

Biomedical engineers identify natural switch that controls breast cancer metastasis

With a desire to inhibit metastasis, Cornell biomedical engineers have found the natural switch between the body's inflammatory response and how malignant breast cancer cells use the bloodstream to spread.

24 Jan 2013

FDA approves Santarus’ UCERIS for induction of remission in patients with ulcerative colitis

Santarus, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved UCERIS (budesonide) extended release tablets for the induction of remission in patients with active, mild to moderate ulcerative colitis.

16 Jan 2013

Biguanide mechanism discovered

Researchers have discovered a novel mechanism by which biguanides exert their glucose-lowering effect, potentially leading to new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of diabetes and insulin resistance.

14 Jan 2013

Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim announce top-line results from empagliflozin Phase III trials on T2D

Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company today announced top-line results for four completed Phase III clinical trials for empagliflozin, an investigational sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor being studied for treatment of patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D).

9 Jan 2013

Diabetes drug metformin works in different way than previously understood: Researchers

A team, led by senior author Morris J. Birnbaum, MD, PhD, the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Medicine, with the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, found that the diabetes drug metformin works in a different way than previously understood.

7 Jan 2013

Key regulator of energy metabolism in cancer cells may play a crucial role in restricting cancer cell growth

Researchers at McGill University have discovered that a key regulator of energy metabolism in cancer cells known as the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) may play a crucial role in restricting cancer cell growth. AMPK acts as a "fuel gauge" in cells; AMPK is turned on when it senses changes in energy levels, and helps to change metabolism when energy levels are low, such as during exercise or when fasting.

28 Dec 2012

Combination of diet and exercise may prevent breast cancer in obese, postmenopausal women

Obese, postmenopausal women are at greater risk for developing breast cancer and their cancers tend to be more aggressive than those in lean counterparts.

20 Dec 2012

Patients with hypertension or diabetes have increased risk of cancer recurrence, survival

By all accounts, a combination of colon cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure can be a recipe for medical disaster. Now, a new study led by a surgical oncologist and researcher at Temple University School of Medicine and Fox Chase Cancer Center has shown just how deadly this mix can be.

20 Dec 2012

Metformin therapy improves BMI and fasting glucose levels in obese children

Metformin therapy has a beneficial treatment effect over placebo in improving body mass index (BMI) and fasting glucose levels in obese children, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). The study showed reduction in BMI was sustained for six months.

11 Dec 2012

Perimenopausal lifestyle modifications could reduce risk of breast cancer in obese woman

Obese women might be able to eliminate their increased risk for postmenopausal breast cancer by taking measures during perimenopause to prevent weight gain and to therapeutically control the metabolic effects of their obesity, according to the results of a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

10 Dec 2012

Diabetes drug may improve ovarian cancer survival

Women with ovarian cancer who are also receiving metformin for diabetes have significantly improved survival rates compared with their counterparts without diabetes, study findings show.

7 Dec 2012

Diabetes tests: an interview with Dr. Danielle Stowasser

Diabetes is a serious condition that causes high levels of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood. There are three main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which are lifelong conditions, and gestational diabetes, which only occurs in women during pregnancy.

3 Dec 2012

Metformin improves survival in diabetic patients with ovarian cancer

Diabetic patients with ovarian cancer who took the drug metformin for their diabetes had a better survival rate than patients who did not take it, a study headed by Mayo Clinic shows. The findings, published early online in the journal Cancer, may play an important role for researchers as they study the use of existing medications to treat different or new diseases.

3 Dec 2012

EU approves Forxiga for treatment of type 2 diabetes

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and AstraZeneca today announced that the European Commission has approved Forxiga (dapagliflozin) tablets for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in the European Union. Forxiga is a selective and reversible inhibitor of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) that works independently of insulin to help remove excess glucose from the body, a unique mode of action not seen in any other currently available treatments for type 2 diabetes.

15 Nov 2012

Sulfonylureas risk vs metformin points to clear first-line diabetes choice

Using sulfonylureas as a first-line treatment for diabetes is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease events or death compared with the use of metformin, research shows.

8 Nov 2012

Metformin more effective than sulfonylurea in controlling type 2 diabetes

A Vanderbilt study examining the impact of the two most commonly prescribed oral diabetes medications on the risk for heart attack, stroke and death has found the drug metformin has benefits over sulfonylurea drugs.