US FDA approves new class of medicines, Jardiance & Synjardy to treat paediatric type 2 diabetes

US FDA approves new class of medicines, Jardiance & Synjardy to treat paediatric type 2 diabetes

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Jardiance (empagliflozin) and Synjardy (empagliflozin and metformin hydrochloride) as additions to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in children 10 years and older with type 2 diabetes. These approvals provide a new class of medicines taken by mouth to treat paediatric type 2 diabetes. Metformin, the only other oral therapy available for the treatment of children with type 2 diabetes, was first approved for paediatric use in 2000.

“Compared to adults, children with type 2 diabetes have limited treatment options, even though the disease and symptom onset generally progress more rapidly in children,” said Michelle Carey, M.D., M.P.H., associate director for therapeutic review for the Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Today’s approvals provide much-needed additional treatment options for children with type 2 diabetes.”

The FDA granted approvals of Jardiance and Synjardy to Boehringer Ingelheim.