Shares in Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) were among the few blue-chips making headway on Thursday after a positive result in a diabetes study.
The EMPA-REG OUTCOME study of Jardiance, a treatment Eli Lilly is marketing in conjunction with German drugs developer Boehringer Ingelheim, reached its primary endpoint, defined as time to first occurrence of either cardiovascular death, or non-fatal myocardial infarction or non-fatal stroke.
The long-term clinical trial is investigating cardiovascular outcomes for the Jardiance drug in more than 7,000 adults that have type 2 diabetes.
The drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a year ago, and it works by blocking the protein SGLT2, and inhibiting reabsorption of glucose in the kidney, which serves to reduce the body's level of blood sugar.
It is taken once a day in the morning, and in conjunction with diet and exercise can lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes.
Eli Lilly hailed the drug as the first blood-sugar lowering tablet to reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths, succeeding where other, similar drugs such as AstraZeneca's (LON:AZN) Onglyza have failed.
"The cardiovascular risk reduction JARDIANCE demonstrated in the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial is exciting and we look forward to sharing the full results," said Professor Hans-Juergen Woerle, global vice president of medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim.
"Approximately 50 per cent of deaths in people with type 2 diabetes worldwide are caused by cardiovascular disease. Reducing cardiovascular risk is an essential component of diabetes management," Professor Woerle added.
Eli Lilly shares were up 4.3% at US$87.36 in late morning trading.