Lizard-Spit Drug Helps in Diabetes
Lower Blood Sugar -- And Weight Loss -- with Gila-Monster Drug
Aug. 27, 2003 -- It lowers blood sugar. It seems to cause weight loss. And now it's the hottest drug in the diabetes pipeline.
It also happens to come from the venom of the Gila monster.
It's called exenatide and it's been grabbing headlines at recent meetings of diabetes specialists. The newest report comes from the 18th International Diabetes Federation Congress in Paris. In a phase 3 clinical trial, exenatide is being used to treat 155 type 2 diabetes patients whose blood sugar remains high despite treatment with standard diabetes drugs.
After 24 weeks' of treatment with exenatide injections, 44% of the patients had their HgA1C levels -- which indicate the average amount of sugar in the blood -- drop to near recommended levels. And they lost weight, too: An average 7.5 pounds, report Kristin Taylor, PhD, and colleagues at Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. in San Diego, Calif.
"These results are important, because many patients with type 2 diabetes do not meet treatment targets -- and those that do have difficulty maintaining those targets," says exenatide researcher Michael Nauck, MD, head of the diabetes center at Bad Lauterberg, Germany, in a news release. "The fact that many of the patients who failed to meet targets on other medications were successful in reaching target with exenatide is very encouraging."
A major side effect is nausea, although this seems to get better with continued treatment.
Lizard-Spit Drug Helps in Diabetes
Lower Blood Sugar -- And Weight Loss -- with Gila-Monster Drug
Aug. 27, 2003 -- It lowers blood sugar. It seems to cause weight loss. And now it's the hottest drug in the diabetes pipeline.
It also happens to come from the venom of the Gila monster.
It's called exenatide and it's been grabbing headlines at recent meetings of diabetes specialists. The newest report comes from the 18th International Diabetes Federation Congress in Paris. In a phase 3 clinical trial, exenatide is being used to treat 155 type 2 diabetes patients whose blood sugar remains high despite treatment with standard diabetes drugs.
After 24 weeks' of treatment with exenatide injections, 44% of the patients had their HgA1C levels -- which indicate the average amount of sugar in the blood -- drop to near recommended levels. And they lost weight, too: An average 7.5 pounds, report Kristin Taylor, PhD, and colleagues at Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. in San Diego, Calif.
"These results are important, because many patients with type 2 diabetes do not meet treatment targets -- and those that do have difficulty maintaining those targets," says exenatide researcher Michael Nauck, MD, head of the diabetes center at Bad Lauterberg, Germany, in a news release. "The fact that many of the patients who failed to meet targets on other medications were successful in reaching target with exenatide is very encouraging."
A major side effect is nausea, although this seems to get better with continued treatment.