UK's NICE backs use of Novo Nordisk's Victoza for diabetes, but only as triple therapy

The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) this morning issued a preliminary recommendation for the use of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk's Victoza (liraglutide), a once-daily injection, for the treatment of type-2 diabetes as part of triple therapy regimens in the National Health Service in England and Wales.

UK cases of diabetes have soared in recent years, fuelled by an increase in obesity rates. Currently, it is estimated that there are over 2.5 million people with diabetes in the UK and a further half a million people who are unaware that they have the condition, the NICE noted.

This latest announcement offers a new alternative for patients who are unable to control their diabetes with current treatments. Patients who are already taking metformin and a sulfonylurea, or metformin and a thiazolidinedione, but still have poor blood glucose control should be offered liraglutide in combination with their current treatments. Patients must also be overweight, with a body mass index (BMI) of 35kg/m2 and over, to be eligible for the drug.