On April 18, JW Pharmaceutical said that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), an executive agency of the Department of Health in the United Kingdom, has confirmed that JW Pharmaceutical’s anti-hyperlipidemic drug, Livalo, is acceptably safe and does not raise the risk of developing diabetes.
Controversy has been growing over the safety of statin-type antihyperlipidemic drugs after some research findings indicated that 7 statin-type antihyperlipidemic drugs could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes if taken for a long time.
According to S. Korea-based JW Pharmaceutical, the MHRA has allowed the drug maker to add to the labeling of Livalo the following information: The long-term use of this drug does not lead to developing diabetes. The MHRA has made such a decision based on the results of clinical tests of the 7 statin-type antihyperlipidemic drugs.
Livalo was developed by Japan’s Kowa Pharmaceutical and has been distributed by JW Pharmaceutical in South Korea. A JW Pharmaceutical official said: “We expect that the UK will serve as the starting point for having Livalo approved across Europe.”
