Dear Mr. Berko: Our neighbor is an engineer. He’s a bright, well-read 76-year-old, and he’s nobody’s fool. He was telling us about a drug called metformin, which he says delays the aches and pains of advancing age and postpones many of the devastating diseases that can come with age, such as heart disease, arthritis and cognitive decline. My wife and I don’t need the drug (yet), but I’d like to know what pharmaceutical company makes metformin and whether you’d buy the stock. I’ve had some good luck buying stock in drug companies you’ve recommended. Have you heard of this drug and how effective it is?
— M.B., Vancouver
Dear M.B.: I may have a little bit more luck than the average investor picking drug stocks because there are some very wise medicine men in my circle of acquaintances. So every once in a while, I’ll get a firsthand update on a certain drug, the effectiveness of which fails, matches or exceeds expectations.
Metformin, first approved by the U.K. in 1957, is an oral diabetes medicine that helps diabetics control their blood sugar levels. It took our dismal Food and Drug Administration only 37 more years to approve metformin in the U.S. Resultantly, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY-$72) began producing and marketing metformin in 1994. It’s prescribed primarily for patients with Type 2 diabetes and sometimes used in combination with insulin or other medications.
When I asked about metformin, two of those esteemed sources chuckled and suggested that your neighbor has fallen for the old Fountain of Youth scheme. This was the dream of Juan Ponce de Leon, the 4-foot-11-inch first governor of Puerto Rico, who believed it would bring him enormous wealth. And Ponce de Leon was a real ponce, too.
