The Victoza injection was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this month for patients 10 years and older with type 2 diabetes.
“The FDA encourages drugs to be made available to the widest number of patients possible when there is evidence of safety and efficacy,” said Lisa Yanoff, acting director of the division of metabolism and endocrinology products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Victoza has now been shown to improve blood sugar control in pediatric patients with type 2 diabetes. The expanded indication provides an additional treatment option at a time when an increasing number of children are being diagnosed with this disease.”
There are more than 5,000 new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes in U.S. youth (under 20) every year. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas cannot make enough insulin.
Victoza creates the same effects as the glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptor protein in the pancreas. It helps the body slow digestion and prevents the liver from making too much glucose.
