Two drugs from AstraZenece, Bydureon and Forxiga, have shown exciting results in a clinical trial. The two drugs together reduced blood sugar levels better than any of them alone.

Insulin is prescribed by doctors when patients’ blood sugar levels remain high after taking metformin, the first line of treatment. Pharma companies are working on delaying insulin injections using like those mentioned above.

he clinical trial also showed another synergistic effect of combining Bydureon and Forxiga: a secondary effect of reducing body weight and blood pressure more than either one alone.

Bydureon and Forxiga work together by flushing sugar in two different ways. Bydureon stimulates the production of insulin in the body, causing glucose to be metabolized. Forxiga helps the body to flush out glucose through the urine.

Physicians were prescribing Bydureon and Forxiga before AstraZeneca released this data, simply because the medications take care of different symptoms of type 2 diabetes patients. Combinations like this one are the future of type 2 diabetes treatment. Competitors of AstraZeneca, such as Novo, Eli Lilly, and Sanofi, are following suit and developing their own anti-diabetes combinations.