Januvia’s (Almost) Clean Bill of Health Not Ruling Out Januvia Pancreatitis

Boston, MAResults of a new study gave Merck’s diabetes drug Januvia a clean bill of health, particularly regarding Januvia heart issues. But there is still some concern about the drug’s link to acute pancreatitis.

Meanwhile, Januvia lawsuits are still pending and complaints - mainly involving acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer - are still being investigated.

Hamid took Metformin for many years to control his type 2 diabetes before switching to Januvia. “My doctors won’t connect this with Januvia but why did they tell me to stop taking it? I took metformin for years and my diabetes was under control. I can’t even get my doctor to tell me why I was switched to Januvia.”

Geoff was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in early 2013. He too was first put on metformin but only stayed on it for a few months before being prescribed Januvia. “Metformin made me feel sick all the time and it gave me diarrhea,” says Geoff. “Januvia didn’t give me any side effects until last February when I rushed myself to the emergency room with the worst stomach pains. I was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and stayed in the hospital for five days. It seems clear to me that Januvia is to blame. If I had a choice, I would have taken the metformin side effects.”

Januvia cardiovascular issues

The recent heart safety study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting in Boston last week, appears to give Merck’s Januvia a clean bill of health, according to Reuters (June 8, 2015). The Tecos study involved almost 15,000 type 2 diabetes patients with a history of heart disease. The data indicated that “adding Januvia to usual care did not increase major heart problems any more than adding a placebo.”

Researchers who conducted the three-year study, both at the University of Oxford Diabetes Trials Unit and the Duke University Clinical Research Institute, determined that 11.4 percent of those who added Januvia to their treatment experienced heart-related death, heart attack and stroke. But 11.6 percent of those who had a placebo had the same experience, which means that the number of heart-related deaths associated with Januvia is not considered statistically significant

Januvia acute pancreatitis

The study also looked at other Januvia side effects, from kidney failure to infections to Januvia cancer. While the researchers didn’t find any significant difference in these side effects, they did see a connection with acute pancreatitis. They concluded that Januvia pancreatitis is “something we need to keep an eye on.”

Januvia is already the second biggest blockbuster diabetes drug in the US, according to data from EvaluatePharma. With these new study results, Bernstein Research predicts Januvia’s sales to reach $7.1 billion in three years.