Canagliflozin for type 2 diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents

Canagliflozin is in clinical development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in children and adolescents (young people). T2DM causes blood glucose (sugar) to become too high, resulting in symptoms such as urinating more often, tiredness and feeling thirsty. If left untreated, T2DM can have more severe effects on the body leading to heart disease, strokes, nerve damage, foot problems, kidney problems, vision loss and blindless. Most children and young people who have T2DM are overweight or obese, and around half have a high systolic (pressure in the arteries when the heart beats) blood pressure. The most common treatments are metformin and insulin; however, these do not always reduce blood sugar to recommended levels or may lose efficacy over time. As such there is a gap for treatment options that have a different mechanism of action (work differently) to existing therapies.