SMC approves Januvia for type 2 diabetes

The Scottish Medicines Consortium, the body responsible for recommending coverage of drugs by the National Health Service in Scotland, has accepted the case for reimbursement of the type 2 diabetes drug Januvia (sitagliptin). The product is marketed in the UK by Merck Sharp and Dohme, a unit of US drug major Merck & Co.

Andrew Morris, professor of diabetic medicine at the University of Dundee, Scotland, said: "this provides NHS Boards, Area Drug and Therapeutic Committees and health care professionals in Scotland with consistent and clear guidance on the role of sitagliptin in type 2 diabetes." Prof Morris added that "it offers a new treatment approach that can be added to existing treatment regimes to help patients gain more control of their blood sugar levels. This will help out ongoing battle against diabetes in Scotland."

MSD said that nearly 150,000 people in Scotland are estimated to have type 2 diabetes. With one in five of cases in the country linked to obesity, recent reports that Scotland is second only to the USA in terms of obesity has prompted considerable local media coverage and debate. The cost of treating the type 2 variant of the condition in the NHS in the UK as a whole is over L1.3 billion ($2.65 billion) per year.