Avandia to be to Studied for Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes

SmithKline Beecham announced in a November 8, 2000 press release that its type 2 drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) will be the only diabetes drug studied in a first-of-its kind, multi-national, 4,000-person study to determine the impact of intensive drug therapy on preventing type 2 diabetes.

Led by Doctors Hertzel Gerstein and Salim Yusuf of McMaster University in Canada, this study, known as the DREAM trial (Diabetes Reduction Approaches with Ramipril and Rosiglitazone Medications), follows last year’s HOPE study (Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation), which concluded that using the ACE inhibitor Ramipril improved cardio-vascular outcomes.

DREAM is the first study to extensively evaluate the ability of intensive therapy with Avandia and/or Ramipril to prevent diabetes.

Avandia targets insulin resistance and treats this underlying cause of type 2 diabetes.

“Therefore, testing the hypothesis that Avandia should prevent or delay the progression of type 2 diabetes is a logical next step,” says David M. Stout, president-North America, SmithKline Beecham Phar-maceuticals.

“Clearly the best way to prevent the serious health consequence of diabetes is to prevent it from occurring in the first place,” says Jeff Probstfield, MD, professor of medicine and epidemiology at University of Washington Health Sciences Center and U.S. DREAM investigator.

The DREAM study will be funded by SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, King Pharmaceuticals and Aventis Pharma Canada.

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