STADA is going to launch a drug for the complex treatment of type 2 diabetes on the Russian market, which includes a combination of two active substances: pioglitazone and alogliptin. There are no analogues of this drug on the Russian pharmaceutical market, the company’s press service reported.
“The primary goal of type 2 diabetes therapy is to help patients achieve adequate glycemic control, i. e., the target blood glucose concentration. Other equally important goals include improving the quality of life and minimizing the risk of long-term complications of diabetes. Another goal of the treatment of type 2 diabetes is to reduce the burden on the economy. Therefore, effective treatment of this disease is a challenging task,” said Gagik Galstyan, Deputy Director of the Diabetes Institute, head of the Diabetic Foot Department of the National Research Medical Center of Endocrinology and Vice-President of the Russian Diabetes Association.
The new combination therapy provides a solution to two main tasks facing endocrinologists who work with patients with type 2 diabetes. First, both alogliptin and pioglitazone provide a significant and steady decrease in blood sugar levels. Secondly, pioglitazone improves the sensitivity of tissues to insulin, that is, it affects the root cause of diabetes, which is insulin resistance.
The combination of pioglitazone and alogliptin simultaneously affects the main pathogenetic mechanisms of the development and progression of type 2 diabetes, and, therefore, ensures effective and long-term control of blood sugar levels. These active substances are able to improve and maintain the functions of pancreatic beta-cells and increase the secretion of insulin.
“The alogliptin–pioglitazone combination therapy slows down the development of atherosclerosis, reduces the risk of cardiovascular complications and death due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ACVD). This is extremely important for patients with type 2 diabetes, since the risk of developing cardiovascular disasters in this category of patients is significantly increased and is the main cause of death. This favorable effect of the therapy is associated with an improvement in vascular function and in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism,” said Ashot Mkrtumyan, the head of the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetology of the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, the Head of the Research Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders of Loginov Moscow State Medical Center.
In addition, treatment with pioglitazone and alogliptin has a beneficial effect on inflammation markers and improves liver tissue function, which is extremely important in the presence of concomitant non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is a pathological condition associated with the accumulation of lipids and a metabolism disorder in liver cells. It is common in patients with insulin resistance, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The drug will be supplied based on the prescription of the attending physician and will appear in pharmacies in February-March 2022.
