Novartis' Diovan cuts diabetes risk

According to new research presented at the American Society of Hypertension's annual scientific meeting and exposition held in San Francisco, California, patients taking Swiss drugmaker Novartis' blood-pressure drug Diovan (valsartan) were found to have a 23% lower risk of developing diabetes than those on Pfizer's Norvasc (amlodipine) during the four or more years of a 15,313-patient study.

Data from the randomized VALUE (Valsartan Antihypertensive Long-Term Use Evaluation) trial showed that, at the end of four or more years of follow-up, 11.5% of the patients taking Diovan had developed diabetes, compared with 14.5% of those taking Norvasc.

However, although the lower risk appears to be attributable to use of Diovan, the researchers did note that certain risk factors made some patients more likely to develop diabetes, and that the more of these risk factors a patient had, the greater the protective effect of Diovan.