EHRs could assist researchers in repurposing drugs, according to new research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
Researchers came to this conclusion while studying the survival rates of more than 100,000 cancer patients that had been exposed to a drug therapy for type 2 diabetes, metformin.
Use of the drug for diabetes therapy reduced all-cause mortality by 23 percent compared to non-diabetic patients not exposed to metformin, and 39 percent compared to diabetic patients receiving insulin.
The research concept could help find drug candidates for repurposing trials, potentially increasing the number of uses for which certain drugs are approved, saving research and development dollars, according to a blog from the American Journal of Managed Care.
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