A new study published this week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has determined that people taking the diabetes medication avandia, made by GlaxoSmithKline, are at greater risk for heart failure than people taking a competing drug, Actos, by Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
The Canadian study used prescription data for 39,736 patients, aged 66 and older, who began taking Avandia (rosiglitazone) or Actos (pioglitazone) from April 2002 to March 2008. The results showed that over the 6 years 6.9 percent of patients taking Avandia were either hospitalized for heart failure or heart attack, or died, compared to 5.3 percent of patients using Actos. The difference in risk appears to be related to heart failure, instead of heart attack. According to a report in Reuters, the two drugs had comparable risk data for heart attack.
The study investigators, based at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto, Canada, said in their article in the BMJ "Given the accumulating evidence of harm with rosiglitazone treatment and the lack of a distinct clinical advantage for the drug over pioglitazone (Actos), it is reasonable to question whether ongoing use of rosiglitazone is justified," (as quoted by Reuters).