Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, said it signed a co-promotion and sales collaboration agreement with Novartis Pharma KK (NPKK), a unit of Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, covering Equa (vildagliptin), a selective DPP-4 inhibitor, and Equmet (vildagliptin and metformin), a combination selective DPP-4 inhibitor and biguanide agent, to treat type 2 diabetes in Japan.