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News
9 Feb 2013

Onglyza (Saxaglipt?in) Achieves Primary Safety Endpoint, Demonstrat?ing No Increased Risk for Cardiovasc?ular Death, Heart Attack or Stroke

AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company have announced the full results of the SAVOR clinical trial in 16,492 adult patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk for cardiovascular events.

In this study, Onglyza (saxagliptin) met the primary safety objective, demonstrating no increased risk for the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) or non-fatal ischemic stroke, when added to a patient’s current standard of care (with or without other anti-diabetic therapies), as compared to placebo. Onglyza did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint of superiority to placebo for the same composite endpoint. Patients treated with Onglyza experienced improved glycemic control and reduced development and progression of microalbuminuria over 2 years as assessed in exploratory analyses.

The major secondary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, non-fatal MI, non-fatal ischemic stroke or hospitalisation for heart failure, unstable angina or coronary revascularisation was balanced across the two arms. One component of the composite secondary endpoint, hospitalisation for heart failure, occurred more in the Onglyza group compared to placebo. Rates of pancreatitis were low and balanced between Onglyza and placebo. Overall rates of malignancy were balanced, and the observed rates of pancreatic cancer were lower in the Onglyza group than in the placebo group. More patients in the Onglyza group reported at least one hypoglycemic event compared to placebo. Results were presented during a Hot Line session at the ESC Congress 2013 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In the past, questions have been raised about the safety of many diabetes treatments, in particular regarding their impact on the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke. Led by the academic research organisations TIMI Study Group and Hadassah University Medical Center and conducted at more than 700 sites worldwide, SAVOR (Saxagliptin Assessment of Vascular Outcomes Recorded in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus) was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 16,492 patients designed to evaluate the cardiovascular safety and efficacy of Onglyza (saxagliptin) in adults with type 2 diabetes at risk for cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke, compared with placebo.

“Given the correlation between diabetes and cardiovascular complications, there is a need for thorough assessments of the cardiovascular risks among therapies that improve glycemic control,” said Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, Senior Investigator of the TIMI Study Group, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a Principal Investigator for the trial. “The results from SAVOR add important evidence to the overall body of data to further define the clinical profile of saxagliptin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.”

“No other DPP-4 inhibitor and few other anti-hyperglycemic agents have been studied as extensively as Onglyza to address the question of cardiovascular safety,” said Brian Daniels, MD, Senior Vice President, Global Development and Medical Affairs, Research and Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca are dedicated to meeting needs of physicians and patients in diabetes care and helping to ensure a better understanding of the value of our medications.”

“SAVOR is an important contribution to our knowledge of the safety of Onglyza in type 2 diabetes patients at an increased risk for cardiovascular events similar to those found in a real-world population,” said Briggs Morrison, MD, executive vice president, Global Medicines Development, AstraZeneca. “In addition, the data on pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer in a study of more than 16,000 patients provide important and timely scientific information from a robust, randomized trial for the diabetes community.”

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