GlaxoSmithKline to File GLP-1 Diabetes Drug Albiglutide as Data Impresses

GlaxoSmithKline will push ahead with plans to file its experimental once-weekly diabetes drug albiglutide for regulatory approval, following the read-out from a series of clinical trials. Albiglutide belongs to the same class of injectable GLP-1 medicines as Novo Nordisk's Victoza and Byetta, from Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly. Byetta was the first drug of the type. Last November, GSK reported that albiglutide cut blood sugar less than daily Victoza in the first of a series of late-stage clinical trials, dimming its prospects in an increasingly competitive market.