Eli Lilly: SMC accepts Byetta use prior to insulin therapy

Eli Lilly has announced an appraisal decision by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to accept the use of Byetta (exenatide) prior to the start of insulin therapy in patients with type two diabetes.

The company reports that this decision will broaden the access to the drug to patients in Europe who have not achieved sufficient glycaemic control as a result of treatment with oral therapies metformin and sulphonylureas.

Byetta is the first drug in a new class of type two diabetes treatments known as incretin mimetics, with the compound displaying a number of the same effects as peptide-1 and other human incretin hormone glucagons – boosting blood sugar levels after eating.

Lilly reports that the drug has shown its non-inferiority to the insulin regimens used for comparison and can be administered as an alternative to insulin in patients who have failed earlier treatments.

Andrew Hotchkiss, general manager at Lilly UK, said: “Exenatide is the first incretin mimetic to be appraised by the SMC.”

He added that approximately 170,000 people in Scotland are affected by diabetes, while the firm is “delighted” that SMC has recognised the novel mode of action of Byetta and its potential to benefit these patients.

Last month, at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago, Eli Lilly reported the results of a three-year study assessing Byetta as a treatment for type two diabetes, the company stated that the compound could potentially improve insulin production when used over an extended period of time.