AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved FARXIGA (dapagliflozin).
The drug is used to treat type 2 diabetes. No further details were released, although the companies said an updated release would be forthcoming.
Late last month, AstraZeneca, which has its North American headquarters in North Wilmington and a manufacturing-distribution site near Newark, announced plans to buy Bristol’s share of the business.
Completition of the agreement is expected in the first quarter of this year.
The incidence of Type 2 diabetes, which is spurred on by obesity, has been increasing among the young and the old worldwide.
AstraZeneca has targeted the disease as it works to beef up its drug development pipeline that has been hit hard by the loss of patent protection on a number of blockbuster pharmaceuticals.
AZ is cutting 1,200 positions in north Wilmington as part of a reorganization effort that will put greater emphasis on its Medimmune business based in the Washington, DC area. About 300 jobs are expected to move from north Wilmington to Gaithersburg, Md.
