Reports of pancreatitis are 20-30 times more likely with GLP-1 drugs, analysis finds

A class of antidiabetes drugs is associated with an increase in safety alerts for pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, a new analysis has found.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a US non-profit organisation that promotes the safe use of drugs, monitored reports of serious adverse events to the US Food and Drug Administration from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 concerning five glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) based agents (exenatide, liraglutide, sitagliptin, saxagliptin, and linagliptin) used to lower blood glucose concentrations.

It compared these against the rates of adverse event reporting for a control group of drugs comprising other drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes (three sulfonylureas and metformin) and drugs for treating other diseases.

GLP-1 …