GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia Survives FDA Panel Vote, But Not Unscathed

New York, NY – July 15, 2010 – “The next step for Avandia will follow the FDA’s action on the advisory panel’s recommendations. In the absence of stronger evidence for risk, there may be an incentive to keep Avandia on the market to allow for wider clinician choice, a view expressed in panel discussions. Even if the FDA does not follow the panel’s advice to withdraw or restrict prescribing of Avandia, physician and patient concerns about safety and litigation, and the availability of alternative therapies for most diabetics are likely to lead to continuing decline in sales of Avandia.”

“Avandia’s decline further opens the door for the antidiabetics that have already filled the gap created after the first Avandia safety scare in 2007 – class leader Actos as well as Merck’s blockbuster DPP-4 drug Januvia (sitagliptin). With Avandia hit by safety fears and Actos approaching patent expiry in 2011, there is also the possibility for newer drug classes to seize market share, maintaining the attractiveness of type 2 diabetes as a commercial and clinical target.”

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