ZAFATEK® Now Available for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in Japan
Important New Treatment Option is First Once Weekly Oral Option for Type 2 Diabetes Patients 
2015–Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) announced today that ZAFATEK® (generic name: trelagliptin succinate, hereafter “ZAFATEK”) is now available in Japan.
ZAFATEK is a once-weekly oral dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-4) inhibitor.
ZAFATEK controls blood glucose levels by selectively and continually inhibiting DPP-4, an enzyme that causes the inactivation of glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucagon-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, incretin hormones1 that play an important role in blood glucose regulation. The inhibition of DPP-4 increases insulin secretion depending on blood glucose concentration, thereby controlling blood glucose levels.
The approval of ZAFATEK was granted based on the safety and efficacy results of multiple clinical phase III studies in patients with type 2 diabetes in Japan. The efficacy of once-weekly ZAFATEK was confirmed in all studies, in addition to an acceptable safety and tolerability profile.
The prevalence of diabetes patients in Japan remains at a high level. According to the National Health and Nutrition Survey of 20122, it is estimated that there are 9.5 million people who are strongly suspected to have diabetes and 11 million people with a high possibility of having diabetes. Medication regimens for patients with type 2 diabetes are complicated and often require them to take their medicine several times a day. ZAFATEK can help patients reduce this burden by controlling blood glucose levels with convenient once-weekly dosing, contributing to improved drug adherence3.
"By adding ZAFATEK as an important new treatment option to our diabetes portfolio in Japan, we believe we are providing more suitable treatment options for the each patient's individual needs," said Masato Iwasaki, Ph.D., Director and President, Japan Pharma Business Unit of Takeda. “ZAFATEK is the world's first once weekly oral type 2 diabetes treatment option. By delivering adequate information to doctors and healthcare providers, we hope ZAFATEK becomes an important therapeutic option for patients.”
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