GlaxoSmithKline has submitted albiglutide, an investigational drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval.
Albiglutide is the sixth drug the UK firm hopes to roll out in 2013.
The company has already filed with regulators for approval of lung drugs Anoro and Relvar, dolutegravir for the treatment of HIV and dabrafenib and trametinib for skin cancer.
The latest drug is not is approved as a treatment for type 2 diabetes or any other indication anywhere in the world.
GlaxoSmithKline hopes to win US and European approval for the product this year.
The firm said in a statement that it will submit a regulatory application in the European Union in the next few months.
Albiglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, is an investigational biological product for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults.
GLP-1 is usually released in the gastrointestinal tract during a meal, and encourages the release of insulin to control blood sugar elevations after eating. In people with type 2 diabetes, the secretion of this peptide is reduced or absent.
Albiglutide is made up of two copies of modified human GLP-1 and has been developed to have a longer duration action.
Image: GSK hopes to win FDA approval for six drugs in 2013. Photo: Courtesy of Maxwell Hamilton.
