A class of drugs known as SGLT-2 Inhibitors, used in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, have come under fire for the serious risks associated with the drugs. The drugs involved are: Janssen’s (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) Invokana and Invokamet, AstraZeneca’s Farxiga and Xigduo XR and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Glyxambia and Jardiance. Rather than metabolizing blood sugars in the body in the way older diabetic drugs do, SGLT-2 inhibitors block reabsorption of the glucose after it passes through the kidneys. Many consider the way in which SGLT-2 drugs use the kidneys to be unnatural, and the process may be a significant factor in the development of diabetic ketoacidosis.
Invokana was the first SGLT-2 inhibitor drug approved by the FDA and is still, far and away, the top seller. Janssen’s Invokamet is the same drug as Invokana, combined with an older diabetes drug, Metformin. These two drugs brought in $278 million for Janssen during the first quarter of 2015; Invokana is expected to reach “blockbuster” status in 2015 when it crosses into the billion-dollar annual revenue realm. Farxiga, the second SGLT-2 inhibitor drug to hit the market has the next-highest revenues, bringing in $33 million in 2013, with significant increases since that time.
Have SGLT-2 Inhibitor Drugs Been Marketed for Off-Label Use?
