Diabetes

ALLEGAN, Mich. — Perrigo on Wednesday named Tony Schott VP diabetes care for the consumer healthcare division.

In this role, Schott will expand Perrigo’s current distribution in retail store-brand glucose and grow sales and market share in this category.

SAN DIEGO — Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceutical have suspended a mid-stage trial of an obesity drug over safety concerns, the two said Wednesday.

The drug makers stopped the phase-2 trial of a combination of pramlintide and metreleptin due to problems that arose in two patients related to metreleptin. Amylin said the decision to suspend the trial did not affect its investigations of metreleptin as a treatment of diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia in patients with lipodystrophy.

NEW YORK — While several drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes are on the market, researchers have found that the best first-line option is metformin.

Led by Wendy Bennett, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, researchers reviewed 140 trials and 26 observational studies of head-to-head comparisons of monotherapy or combination therapy that reported intermediate or long-term clinical outcomes or harms of six oral diabetes medications.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — The evolving role of the pharmacist and the growing impact of pharmacist interventions on clinical outcomes were discussed Tuesday by Walgreens chief medical officer Cheryl Pegus at the 11th annual Population Health and Care Coordination Colloquium in Philadelphia.

MILPITAS, Calif. — LifeScan on Tuesday introduced Life First, a new North American campaign featuring music legend B.B. King and former “American Idol” contestant Crystal Bowersox in support of its OneTouch brand of blood-glucose monitoring systems.

The ads debut on national and regional television Tuesday and will be followed by online and print ads over the next several months. The introduction of the campaign coincides with National Diabetes Alert Day on March 22.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Beginning in mid-March, the AARP/Walgreens Wellness Tour will embark on another 10-month tour to provide an expected $14 million worth of free health tests.

DANBURY, Conn. — A drug maker focused on development and commercialization of diabetes treatments unveiled its accelerating clinical development plans of two drug candidates.

Biodel said BIOD-105 and BIOD-107, known as ultra rapid-acting insulins, are designed to result in more rapid insulin action, compared with currently marketed mealtime insulin analogs.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Diabetica Research Solutions said its DRSI ReStore! Energy brand has teamed up with television personality and author Charles Mattocks.

Mattocks, known to fans as "The Poor Chef," will make appearances with DRSI ReStore! Energy, including on such shows as "Dr. Oz," "Fox News" and "Oprah," as well as through his diabetes community website, newsletters and his blogs, while he continues testing recipes for diabetics using the supplement. Mattocks recently was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.