Scottish Medical Consortium backs use of Novo Nordisk's Victoza for type 2 diabetics

9 December 2009

Following marketing approval by the European Commission and the subsequent UK launch on July 7, 2009 of Novo Nordisk's Victoza (liraglutide), the first once-daily human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog which regulates blood sugar in a glucose-dependent manner, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has announced its advice to the National Health Service Boards and Area Drug and Therapeutic Committees (ADTCs) supporting its use for people with type 2 diabetes in NHS Scotland.

The advice is aligned with the European Commission indication, meaning physicians will now have an additional therapy option to consider when treating eligible type 2 diabetes patients.

Liraglutide represents an important advance in diabetes treatment because it helps patients maintain normal blood sugar levels with a once-daily injection that can be taken at any time of day, irrespective of meals, said the SMC, noting that it is the only human GLP-1 analog with 97% sequence homology to natural human GLP-1 peptide.

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