LaborMed Pharma launches a new oral antidiabetic product

Today, Gliclazid MR LPH 30 mg will be launched within a symposium dedicated to specialists – Management of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and typical phenotype. This is the first generic product with this concentration and pharmaceutical formulation (MR – modified release) on the local specialised market. After the launch in Bucharest, a series of similar events will take place in Cluj, Iaşi and Timişoara. The new product of LaborMed Pharma is recommended for the treatment of persons with diabetes mellitus.

Gliclazid MR LPH 30 mg is a next-generation sulphonylurea , its primary advantage being the administration of a single daily dose. Sulphonylureas represent a class of drugs used worldwide in the management of type II diabetes mellitus (type II DM) and it represents one of the two classes of products that stimulate insulin secretion.

Stephen Stead, CEO LaborMed Pharma: This is the first launch we have been preparing for some time. In the next few months we will launch two new drugs to add up to our cardiovascular portfolio. We hope that we will be able to maintain the same alert rhythm in launching new products until the end of the year and beyond.

Diabetes mellitus is considered a progressive disorder of the carbohydrate metabolism, affecting approx. 5% of the world population; 85% of the persons affected suffer from type II DM. This appears in patients over 40, it is not insulin-dependent, it can be treated with oral antidiabetic products and it is easier to control than type I DM (which requires daily insulin therapy). Type II DM can be associated with obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia (metabolic syndrome) – important predictors of cardiovascular disease. The rigorous control of the glycaemia level is very important in the prevention or delay of complications.

In Romania, the number of diabetes patients is of approx. 850,000, of which 750,000 with type II DM, the remaining 100,000 being type I DM cases. Within the Health Evaluation Program started in 2007 by the Ministry of Public Health, out of 2.5 million evaluated persons, 23.4% were diagnosed with different degrees of DM.

LaborMed Pharma was founded in 1991. Since February 2008, Advent International has become the majority shareholder of the Group. Over 80 products, important market shares in two major therapeutic classes (cardiovascular and central nervous system), gross sales of € 28 million in 2007, 450 employees – these are data that define the company, along with the most up-to-date factory in this field in the country. Since 2002, the company has been an associate member of the European Generic Medicines Association.