DREAM study results position GSK's Avandia as first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes

UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate) reduced the risk of prediabetics progressing to full-blown type 2 diabetes 62% relative to placebo, according to results from the DREAM study presented at the 42nd annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

In the largest diabetes-prevention trial ever conducted, 10.6% of people on Avandia progressed to the condition versus 25% of those on placebo while, in the trial's composite primary endpoint of development of diabetes or death from any cause, GSK's insulin sensitizer achieved a 60% risk reduction vs placebo (p<0.0001).

In the study, Avandia was generally well-tolerated, with no statistically-significant higher withdrawal from medication relative to placebo. There was a low number of deaths in the trial and no significant difference between the two groups (1.1% in the rosiglitazone arm vs 1.3% in the placebo group; p=0.7).