Study finds similar Avandia, Actos risks

A retrospective analysis of 28,938 patients treated with either Avandia rosiglitazone or Actos pioglitazone between 2001-05 showed no significant difference between treatment groups on the composite rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), acute heart failure or death (4.14% vs. 4.16%, p=0.666). Data for the diabetes drugs were published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.The study, which used propensity score matching to attempt to reduce the confounding effects of covariates, was conducted by HealthCore Inc., the outcomes research subsidiary of health benefits company WellPoint Inc. GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK) markets Avandia, while Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4502) markets Actos. ...