According to a recent news release, regulators in Europe have concluded that there is little evidence that widely used drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes could cause pancreatic inflammation or pancreatic cancer.
Besides the European agency, the Food and Drug Administration has been reviewing the safety of a big class of drugs that includes Januvia by Merck and the drugs Byetta, Bydureon, and Onglyza, which are sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca. These drugs, called incretin mimetics by the FDA, increase the body’s levels of a hormone that helps to control blood sugar levels.
They have, however, been linked to pancreatic inflammation known as pancreatitis. While the European agency said that the clinical trials had shown no increased risk of pancreatic cancer, the FDA said the trials were too small to draw firm conclusions.