Saxagliptin efficacy and safety in patients with type 2 diabetes receiving concomitant statin therapy

Aims: To examine whether concomitant statin therapy affects glycemic control with saxagliptin 2.5 and 5 mg/d in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Efficacy and safety were analyzed post hoc for pooled data from 9 saxagliptin randomized, placebo-controlled trials with a primary 24-week treatment period (4 monotherapy, 2 add-on to metformin, 1 each add-on to a sulfonylurea, thiazolidinedione, or insulin +/- metformin). Safety was also assessed in an 11-study, 24-week pool and an extended 20-study pool, which included 9 additional 4- to 52-week randomized studies. Comparisons were performed for patient groups defined by baseline statin use. Results: Saxagliptin produced greater mean reductions in glycated hemoglobin than placebo, with no interaction between treatment and baseline statin use (P = 0.47). In patients receiving saxagliptin 2.5 and 5 mg and placebo, the proportion of patients with >= 1 adverse event (AE) was 78.1%, 64.0%, and 63.2%, respectively, in patients with any statin use and 70.6%, 57.9%, and 55.0% in patients with no statin use. Serious AEs, deaths, and symptomatic confirmed hypoglycemia (fingerstick glucose <= 50 mg/dL) were few and similar, irrespective of baseline statin use. Conclusions: Saxagliptin improves glycemic control and is generally well tolerated in patients with T2DM, irrespective of concomitant statin therapy. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.