Lilly receives CHMP backing for Byetta plus basal insulin

Lilly's type 2 diabetes therapy Byetta has been recommended for European approval by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) as an add-on therapy to basal insulin.

The drug has been endorsed with or without metformin and/or Actos for the treatment of type 2 diabetes among adult patients who have not achieved adequate glycaemic control with any of these therapies on their own.

A recommendation was granted by the European Medicines Agency committee based on positive data from a clinical study, which showed that Byetta can help to deliver significant improvements in glycaemic control after 30 weeks of treatment.

Byetta was developed as part of the long-running partnership between Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, which came to an amicable conclusion last November.

Dr Christian Weyer, senior vice-president for research and development at Amylin, said Byetta's effects "contribute to improved glycaemic control after meals, complementing the control of fasting blood sugar achieved with basal insulin".

This comes after Lilly announced the start of a new study investigating the barriers that prevent patients from reaching their insulin therapy goals at the end of last year.