Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease in which the pancreas does not make enough insulin to control the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood or when the body is unable to use insulin effectively. It can lead to serious complications if a person does not receive treatment. According to the World Health Organization, type 2 diabetes has increasingly been reported in children and adolescents recently, so that in some parts of the world type 2 diabetes has become the main type of diabetes in children.
EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has recommended granting an extension of indication to Victoza (liraglutide) to include the treatment of children and adolescents aged 10 years or older with type 2 diabetes. This medicine is already approved for use together with diet and exercise in adults with type 2 diabetes, on its own or as an add-on to other diabetes medicines.
Currently, the only two approved treatment options for paediatric type 2 diabetes patients in most countries are metformin and insulin. However, more than half of young patients do not achieve glycaemic control on metformin alone, even when combined with lifestyle interventions, and treatment with insulin has considerable side effects such as weight gain, or a high risk of hypoglycaemia. Therefore, there is a medical need for alternative treatment options for children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes.
Victoza is the first non-insulin, besides metformin, to get a positive opinion for paediatric use for type 2 diabetes.
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