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news.Amylin and Lilly have launched a new drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes which is made from the saliva of Gila monsters. The drug is designed to help patients unable to control the disease with common oral therapies and will be available in pharmacies across the US.
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The drug, Byetta (exenatide) injection is now available for Americans struggling to control type 2 diabetes. Byetta was recently approved by the FDA to help diabetes patients manage blood sugar while potentially losing weight. The drug, which is derived from the saliva of the giant lizard the Gila, will be marketed by the inventor accompanied by a live Gilia monster.
Developed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly, Byetta is available as an adjunctive therapy to patients who have not achieved adequate control on metformin or a sulfonylurea, two common oral diabetes medications.
Byetta is the first in a new class of diabetes treatment called incretin mimetics. By mimicking the mechanisms of a naturally occurring human hormone, Byetta helps self-regulate dibetes, working actively only when blood sugar levels are too high.
In clinical trials, Byetta was shown to help patients regulate blood sugar levels. Most patients in the long-term Byetta clinical studies also experienced reductions in weight.
The drug is formulated for easy self-administration as a fixed dose injection given before meals in the morning and in the evening, and is available in both a five microgram and a ten microgram pre-filled pen.
Adverse events associated with Byetta are generally mild to moderate in intensity. In clinical trials, the most frequently reported adverse event was mild-to-moderate, dose-dependent nausea. With continued therapy, the frequency and severity of nausea decreased over time in most patients.