Safety and Efficacy of Galvus as add-on Therapy to Metformin Plus Glimepiride

Inclusion criteria

• Confirmed diagnosis of T2DM by standard criteria.

• Treatment with oral anti-diabetic therapy, on stable dose for at least 12 weeks priorto the screening visit. Acceptable background anti-diabetic therapy includes:metformin (≥ 1500 mg) as monotherapy or in combination with SU, TZDs, or glinides

• Age: ≥18 to ≤ 80 years

• HbA1c of ≥ 7.5 and ≤ 11.0%

• Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥22 to ≤45 kg/m2

Exclusion criteria:

• FPG ≥ 270 mg/dL (≥ 15.0 mmol/L)

• Acute metabolic diabetes complications such as ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar state (coma) within the past 6 months

• Any of following within past 6 months: Myocardial infarction, TIA or stroke, coronaryartery bypass surgery or percutaneous coronary intervention

• History of hypersensitivity to any of the study drugs or to drugs of similar chemicalclasses

• Acute infections which may affect blood glucose control within 4 weeks prior toscreening Other protocol-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria may apply