Diabetes

ALBANY, N.Y. — Customers who recycle bottles and cans with deposit values at Greenback Redemption Centers in Hannaford supermarkets in New York state will have the option of donating the money to local charities.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Novo Nordisk has launched a diabetes awareness sweepstakes in which the winners get a free trip to the 2013 IndyCar finale, the Danish drug maker said Friday.

The company announced that it had hired IZOD IndyCar Series Charlie Kimball as spokesman for its Race with Insulin contest. Kimball, the first licensed driver with diabetes to race at the highest level of the series, was diagnosed with the disease during a routine doctor visit in 2007 while racing in Europe and is a user of Novo Nordisk's NovoLog (insulin aspart [rDNA origin]).

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug made by Johnson & Johnson for treating Type 2 diabetes, the agency said.

The FDA announced the approval of J&J subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals' Invokana (canagliflozin) tablets, designed for use with diet and exercise to improve blood-sugar control in adults with the disease.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola has filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a new sugar-free beverage with added fiber, according to a report from the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

NEW YORK — The American Diabetes Association, partnering with Walgreens and Duane Reade, on Tuesday kicked off its 25th Annual American Diabetes Association Alert Day, a one-day "wake-up call" asking the American public to take the Diabetes Risk Test to find out if they are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.   

MILPITAS, Calif. — LifeScan on Monday initiated a voluntary recall and replacement for all of its OneTouch VerioIQ blood-glucose meters in the United States, effective immediately.

ATLANTA — The percentage of people who are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and aware of it has risen slightly over the past few years, but remains low, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. — Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly are seeking regulatory approval for an experimental drug to treat Type 2 diabetes, the companies said Monday.

BI and Lilly announced the submission of a regulatory application to the Food and Drug Administration for empagliflozin. The drug belongs to a new drug class known as SGLT2 inhibitors, which work by removing excess glucose through the urine by blocking its reabsorption in the kidneys. The companies are testing the drug in a late-stage clinical trial for which they plan to enroll 14,500 patients.