Novo Nordisk applies to FDA, E.U. for diabetes drug approval

DENMARK Novo Nordisk has asked U.S. and European regulators to approve its new diabetes treatment, liraglutide, according to Bloomberg.

Liraglutide is a synthetic version of glucagon-like peptide-1, a hormone that stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. Diabetics don’t naturally make enough insulin to absorb sugar, which collects in the blood rather than being absorbed by muscle and fat cells. This accumulation of glucose can lead to kidney failure, blindness and heart disease.

Unlike the natural hormone, which has a life of little more two minutes, liraglutide persists in the blood for 24 hours. Tests in rats indicate it helps pancreatic cells to multiply, suggesting its use may slow or even reverse organ damage caused by diabetes.

“This could nearly double the $2 billion-plus of diabetes sales we currently forecast in 2012,” Jack Scannell, an analyst at Bernstein Research, said in a May 7 investor note. Novo Nordisk may report liraglutide sales of $2 billion in 2012, and the figure will rise if clinical trials show the drug also cuts obesity and prevents diabetes, he said.