Copenhagen, Denmark, September 14, 2006 -- Several abstracts presented today at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) indicated that ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl), an oral antidiabetic medication, demonstrated significant cardiovascular benefits such as reducing the risk of heart attack and/or stroke and acute coronary syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of premature death in patients with diabetes. An estimated 171 million people worldwide have diabetes, and CVD is responsible for 50% to 80% of deaths in people with diabetes.

"We are continuing to see the benefits of ACTOS beyond glycemic control," said Erland Erdmann, M.D., chairman of the PROactive Executive Committee and director of the Clinic III for Internal Medicine, University of Cologne, Germany. "We know that patients with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people without diabetes. The data presented at EASD showed that ACTOS can have a positive effect on several measures of cardiovascular disease outcomes in high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes."

Reduced Occurrence of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (MACE)

Results from one of the studies showed that ACTOS significantly reduced the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), such as heart attacks, nonfatal stroke, acute coronary syndrome and cardiovascular death in high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes. Compared to placebo, patients treated with ACTOS demonstrated statistically significant risk reductions of heart attacks (23 percent, P=0.046), the combined risk of cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attack or nonfatal stroke (18 percent, P=0.020) and the combined risk of all-cause mortality, nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke or acute coronary syndrome (17 percent, P=0.010). These results were part of the landmark PROactive (PROspectiv
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Contact: Jocelyn M. Gerst
jgerst@tpna.com
847-769-6889
Ketchum
14-Sep-2006