Berlin/Helsinki, June 1, 2008 – At the 5th World Congress on Prevention of Diabetes and its Complications (WCPD), leading experts discussed the need for integrated strategies to combat the “deadly duo” of diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the symposium “Preventing diabetes and cardiovascular disease – entering a new era with acarbose”, chaired by Professor Jaakko Tuomilehto, Public Health Department, University of Helsinki, Finland. T he symposium was hosted by Bayer Schering Pharma as part of their new campaign, “We Take Diabetes To Heart”, showing the company’s commitment to advance the understanding and management of prevention of heart diseases in patients with elevated blood sugar levels.

“Abnormally elevated postprandial blood glucose has been identified as a determining factor of disease progression from a prediabetic state to diabetes and eventually cardiovascular disease”, said Professor Antonio Ceriello, Warwick Medical School, UK. In fact, data from the European Heart Survey as well as from the China Heart Survey showed that three quarters of patients admitted for coronary artery disease were also hyperglycaemic (prediabetes or type 2 diabetes). These conditions pose a major and growing threat to global health, and both conditions are fatally interconnected. With 3.8 million deaths attributable to diabetes and related cardiovascular complications per year , this epidemic accounts for up to 6 percent of total global mortality, similar in magnitude to HIV/AIDS. Prevention and early intervention is the key to master this global challenge.

“The recently updated International Diabetes Federation guidelines on the management of postmeal hyperglycaemia, reinforce existing guidelines that highlight the importance of early intervention with glucose lowering treatments, such as acarbose, to reduce blood glucose peaks after meals”, added Professor Lars Rydén, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Findings from the Study to Prevent Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (STOP-NIDDM) were presented by Professor Jean-Louis Chiasson, Head of Research Group on Diabetes and Metabolic Regulation, University of Montreal, Canada. Results demonstrated that in the course of three years, therapy with Glucobay significantly reduced the risk of progression from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes by 36 percent and decreased the occurrence of cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction, by 49 percent. “Acarbose has been shown to be a safe and effective therapy at all stages of the hyperglycaemic disease continuum. Acarbose is recommended by major guidelines for the treatment of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes”, said Professor Chiasson.

The next logical step is to investigate whether the benefits of Glucobay extend to patients with already established CVD. The large trial ACE (Acarbose Cardiovascular Evaluation) will be coordinated by an independent, international research group co-chaired by Professor Rury Holman, Diabetes Trials Unit, University of Oxford, UK, Professor Chang YuPan, Chinese PLA General Hospital Beijing, China, and Professor DaYi Hu, People Hospital of Peking University, and is funded by Bayer Schering Pharma.

ACE is a multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled trial, enrolling more than 7,500 patients with established cardiovascular disease and pre-diabetes, to compare Glucobay with placebo, conducted in China and Hong Kong. Professor Holman pointed out that results from ACE, expected in 2014, will be of global relevance, “The results will lay the foundation for an interdisciplinary approach to the early intervention and risk management of the deadly duo of (pre)diabetes and cardiovascular disease and help reduce the healthcare burden to individual patients and societies as a whole.”

ACE is a unique collaboration between academic researchers and industry and demonstrates Bayer Schering Pharma’s commitment to decrease the worldwide burden of diabetes and CVD.