MSD, known as Merck in the United States and Canada, has announced the primary results of the Trial uating Cardiovascular Outcomes with Sitagliptin (TECOS), a placebo-controlled study of the cardiovascular (CV) safety of MSDs DPP-4 inhibitor, JANUVIA (sitagliptin), added to usual care in more than 14,000 patients. The study achieved its primary composite CV endpoint of non-inferiority (defined as the time to the first confirmed event of any of the following: CV-related death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina) compared to usual care without sitagliptin. Overall, the primary end point occurred in 11.4 percent (n=839) of sitagliptin-treated patients compared with 11.6 percent (n=851) of placebo-treated patients in the Intention-to-Treat (ITT) analysis (HR=0.98; 95% CI [0.89-1.08]), and in 9.6 percent (n=695) of patients in both the sitagliptin and placebo groups in the Per Protocol (PP) analysis (HR=0.98; 95% CI [0.88-1.09]; p<0.001 for non-inferiority). In addition, there was no increase in hospitalization for heart failure, and rates of all-cause mortality were similar in both treatment groups, which were two key secondary endpoints. These data were presented at the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association and were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Patients with type II diabetes need antihyperglycemic medicines to help control their blood sugar. Because these patients are at increased risk for cardiovascular complications, understanding the cardiovascular safety of these medicines is important, said study co-chair Rury Holman, Professor of Diabetic Medicine and Diabetes Trials Unit Director, University of Oxford.  The results from TECOS showed that sitagliptin did not increase the risk of cardiovascular events in a diverse group of patients with type 2 diabetes at high cardiovascular risk.

We believe the results of TECOS provide important clinical information about the cardiovascular safety profile of sitagliptin, said Dr Roger M. Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories.  The TECOS CV safety trial reflects the best efforts of clinical scientists at the University of Oxford, the Duke Clinical Research Institute and MSD on behalf of patients around the world who suffer from type II diabetes.

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