New hypoglycemia and pancreatitis sub-analyses from the Onglyza SAVOR study released at EASD

US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and partner Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) have announced additional results from the SAVOR cardiovascular outcomes trial, which found no increased rate of hypoglycemia among patients treated with their diabetes drug Onglyza (saxagliptin) compared to placebo when added to metformin monotherapy and higher rates of hypoglycemia only in the Onglyza group compared to the placebo group among patients taking sulfonylureas, agents known to cause hypoglycemia, at baseline.

Additionally, a greater percentage of patients taking Onglyza reached their target HbA1c without hypoglycemia, except patients who were treated with sulfonylureas alone at baseline. These findings are consistent with previous studies of Onglyza. Results were presented today at the 49th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Barcelona, Spain.

“Treating diabetes often requires the use of multiple therapies to help lower blood glucose levels without increasing the risk of hypoglycemia,” said Itamar Raz, co-primary study investigator and head of the Diabetes Unit, Department of Medicine, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel, adding: “In a post-hoc analysis from SAVOR, the data reflected that when saxagliptin was used in combination with metformin, there was a lowering of blood sugar and no increase in the risk of hypoglycemia.”