Looks to be impacted again---
"FDA panel backs SmithKline's Avandia
for diabetes
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - A Food and Drug
Administration panel on Thursday voted to back SmithKline
Beecham's (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: SB.L) Avandia to
treat adult-onset, or Type II, diabetes.
The panel said it supported Avandia for use as a stand alone therapy and in combination with
another diabetes drug, metformin.
Earlier on Thursday, FDA officials agreed with SmithKline Beecham that Avandia did not appear to
cause significant liver problems like those associated with rival drug Rezulin made by
Warner-Lambert Co. (WLA - news). Warner-Lambert and the FDA said Rezulin has been linked
to 28 cases of death from liver failure.
Analysts have said Avandia, known generically as rosiglitazone, could be a blockbuster in the huge
Type II market, estimated at about $4 billion last year.
The drug belongs in a class known as TZDs, or glitazones, that work by helping insulin remove
glucose from the bloodstream.
More than one million people have taken Rezulin, which produced dramatic improvements in some
patients fighting Type II diabetes, which afflicts about 15 million Americans and can lead to serious
complications such as blindness and limb loss."
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