Eli Lilly reports benefits of Byetta over three years

At the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago, Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals have announced the three-year results of a study assessing Byetta (exenatide) as a treatment for patients with type two diabetes.

The open-label extension study involving 217 patients found that treatment with Byetta was associated with continued control of blood sugar and progressive weight loss in those suffering with the condition.

Byetta is the first incretin mimetic currently being investigated as an add-on treatment for type two diabetes being administered with metformin, a sulfonylurea or a thiazolidinedione.

John Buse, chief of general medicine and clinical epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, noted that type two diabetes is related to marred production of insulin in the pancreas which is increasingly pronounced over time.

“Although currently Byetta is not indicated to improve beta cell function, these study findings suggest that long-term Byetta treatment may help improve insulin production,” he said.

He added that in enhancing the production of insulin, patients with type two diabetes will be helped to improve the control of their blood sugar levels.

In February 2007, Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals announced that the US Food and Drug Administration had approved changes to the storage instructions for Byetta injection pens, with it becoming possible for the pens to be kept at room temperature until first use.