Metabasis Drug Trials Halted After Health Problems

Metabasis Therapeutics has said two clinical trials of its experimental diabetes treatment were halted after two patients who were also taking the widely used diabetes drug metformin suffered serious health problems. Metabasis said it had been informed by Sankyo, its partner in developing the diabetes drug CS-917, that the two patients apparently suffered from lactic acidosis, a condition involving the build-up of lactic acid that causes deep and rapid breathing, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Reuters (http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7919451)