Tests find that type 2 diabetes drug sitagliptin does not increase risk of heart-related illness

A new study on a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes has found that taking Januvia (sitagliptin) does not increase the risk of major heart problems.

Researchers looking at the reaction of people with type 2 diabetes taking the drug found no increase in heart risk when compared with taking a placebo (a treatment with no effect).

The results of the Trial Evaluating Cardiovascular Outcomes with Sitagliptin (TECOS) were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

New tests on sitgliptin show no increase in risk of heart conditions

Co-chair of the study, Rury Holman, Professor of Diabetic Medicine and Diabetes Trials Unit Director, University of Oxford, said: “People with type 2 diabetes need anti-hyperglycaemic medicines to help control their blood sugar. Because these people are at increased risk for cardiovascular complications, understanding the cardiovascular safety of these medicines is important. The results from TECOS showed that sitagliptin did not increase the risk of cardiovascular events in a diverse group of patients with type 2 diabetes at high cardiovascular risk.”

Professor Anthony Barnett, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and University of Birmingham, added: “TECOS is a milestone for sitagliptin and provides robust reassuring evidence concerning the risk of cardiovascular events including heart failure, stroke and heart attack. The results build on the wider evidence-base for sitagliptin to support benefits including glycaemic efficacy, low risk of hypoglycaemia, lack of weight gain and good tolerability without any significant safety concerns.”

The tests reported no increase in hospitalisation for heart failure, and rates of death were similar in both treatment groups.

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