Staff in regulatory affairs jobs at Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly have been able to secure a positive opinion on their application for European approval of diabetes drug Trajenta.
The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion for the drug to be approved as a monotherapy for adults with type 2 diabetes who have failed to respond to other treatments.
It is also being recommended in combination with metformin and metformin plus sulphonylurea, based on clinical data demonstrating its efficacy in delivering blood glucose control improvements.
This news comes in the same week that the two companies published further phase III clinical trial data showing the efficacy of the linagliptin-based treatment when combined with metformin.
Enrique Conterno, president of Lilly Diabetes, said: "We believe linagliptin can be an important new treatment option for patients with type 2 diabetes."
Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly have been collaborating in the field of diabetes since signing an agreement in January 2011.