The popular diabetes treatment Onglyza (saxagliptin) was jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb to help people with type-2 diabetes control high blood sugar levels. However, it has been linked with pancreatic cancer.

Onglyza effectively controls blood sugar and, unlike many diabetes drugs, does not encourage weight gain, making it the ideal choice for an increasing number of diabetes patients.

The drug is part of a class of drugs called incretin mimetics. These kinds of drugs work by mimicking the body’s natural incretin hormones, used to stimulate the release of insulin after a meal. In 2012 alone, Onglyza brought in $709 million, and by 2018, annual sales of Onglyza are projected at over $2 billion.

Recent reports, however, could put a damper on this optimistic projection of Onglyza’s success. Some doctors have become concerned about a possible risk of pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), as well as pancreatic and thyroid cancer for those who take incretin-based drugs.

Onglyza pancreatic cancer is considered the most serious potential side effect of Onglyza and other incretin-based drugs, because it is often not diagnosed until the later, more severe stages. Late-stage pancreatic cancer is much more difficult to treat, and has a much higher risk of fatality.

Hundreds of patients who took incretin-based drugs have already begun filing lawsuits against various drug makers after developing pancreatitis or Onglyza pancreatic cancer. These lawsuits allege that the drug companies failed to warn patients of the potential risk involved in using the diabetes drugs.

The FDA has already recognized the link between Onglyza and a different health threat, heart failure. In April 2015, the FDA recommended that Onglyza should include a label warning patients of the increased risk of heart failure associated with the drug.

Prior to the warning the FDA consulted data from a study that showed those patients who took Onglyza had a 27 percent greater likelihood of heart failure hospitalizations than those who did not take Onglyza.

The review committee also found Onglyza users had an increase in both cardiovascular death and death from all causes as compared to non-users. Because of these factors, the committee found the drug’s potential risk necessitated some kind of warning to consumers as well as the medical community.

While the FDA urged Onglyza’s manufacturers to include a warning regarding risk of heart failure, it has not followed suit with pancreatic cancer. The FDA, and its European counterpart the European Medicines Agency (EMA), state that they are monitoring the alleged link between Onglyza and pancreatic cancer, but they have not yet recommended or required a warning label.

Even if the FDA recommends a warning label in the future, it will come too late for the patients who have already been injured by Onglyza. Some of those patients are seeking compensation by brining Onglyza lawsuits claiming that AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb should have included a warning for pancreatic cancer on Onglyza’s warning label.

If you have suffered from heart failure, pancreatitis, cancer, or other serious side effects after using Onglyza, you may be able to take legal action.