Metformin

Key points

• It lowers blood sugar by cutting glucose absorbed from food and produced by the liver, and by improving the body’s response to insulin.
• The medicine is contraindicated when kidney function is severely reduced, with an estimated glomerular filtration rate below 30 mL/minute/1.73 m2.
• Seven of the eight listed products combine metformin with other glucose-lowering ingredients; only Metformin Tablets contains it as the sole active ingredient.
• Postmarketing cases of lactic acidosis have resulted in death, hypothermia, hypotension and resistant bradyarrhythmias, with onset often marked by malaise, muscle aches and breathing difficulty.

What Metformin is used for

Metformin is used alongside diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in adults and children aged 10 and older with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. The label positions it as an adjunct to these lifestyle measures, not a replacement for them.

Brands and forms in this catalogue

Metformin is sold under several brand names in this catalogue. Glucovance and Metaglip come from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Jentadueto and Jentadueto Xr from Boehringer Ingelheim, Actoplus Met from Takeda, and Glucophage Trio and Istamet from Merck. The combination products pair metformin with a second glucose-lowering ingredient from a range of classes: sulfonylureas such as glibenclamide, glimepiride or glipizide; DPP-4 inhibitors such as linagliptin or sitagliptin; the thiazolidinedione pioglitazone; or the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor voglibose. All eight products are tablets, part of the Diabetes Management category.

Further reading

• METFORMIN HYDROCHLORIDE tablet, film coated
• Metformin: MedlinePlus Drug Information