Abbott
AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has issued civil investigative demands to drug makers Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Eli Lilly & Co. for information related to diabetes drug Actos.
Lilly received its demand from Abbott's office in December, according to the company's annual report, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Lilly told the news service the demand asks for a "wide range of documents and information related to Actos." The company said it is cooperating with the attorney general's investigation.
A spokeswoman for Takeda said the company received the same request and is also cooperating.
Tom Kelley, a spokesman for Abbott, told Dow Jones that the office sent letters to the two drug makers, but did not provide any additional details.
According to the drug's website, Actos is a once-a-day prescription medication for Type-2 diabetes that helps control a person's blood sugar or glucose levels.
Actos makes the cells in a person's body more sensitive to insulin -- a hormone produced by the pancreas that allows the cells in a person's body to use blood sugar for energy.
When the cells are more sensitive to insulin, the sugar that is in a person's blood can pass more easily into the cells, where it is really needed. So, instead of remaining in the blood, where sugar can build up to dangerous levels, it passes into the cells and blood sugar levels go down.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by e-mail at jessica@legalnewsline.com.