Sanofi's once-daily diabetes drug Lyxumia approved in Europe

French drug major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) this morning announced that the European Commission has granted Marketing Authorization for Lyxumia its (lixisenatide). Lyxumia the first once-daily prandial GLP-1 receptor agonist, is indicated for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus to achieve glycemic control in combination with oral glucose-lowering medicinal products and/or basal insulin when these, together with diet and exercise, do not provide adequate glycemic control.

The drug received a positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) last year (The Pharma Letter November 19, 2012). Eric Le Berrigaud, an analyst at Bryan Garnier & Co in Paris, believes Lyxumia could generate sales of $1.4 billion by 2020.

“With the European approval of Lyxumia, we now have a simple new tool to help patients with type 2 diabetes further reduce HbA1c, with the benefit of weight loss and limited risk of hypoglycemia. This well-tolerated therapy is of specific interest to patients who are on oral treatments and/or basal insulin and do not manage to maintain their HbA1c targets,” said Pierre Chancel, senior vice president, Global Diabetes at Sanofi.