Study: Lilly drug helps diabetes patients

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co., which co-markets the diabetes drug Byetta, told an American Diabetes Association convention today that patients lowered their risk of heart disease after taking the injections for 3-1/2 years.

The news is important to diabetes sufferers, who experience heart-lung problems including high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Diabetes is the fifth-leading cause of death in the nation.

Prescriptions for Byetta were first issued in 2005. The Food and Drug Administration in January expanded the use of Byetta as "an injectable add-on therapy" for type-2 diabetes sufferers who cannot control their blood sugar levels.

The study, presented at an association meeting today in Chicago, involved 151 people with type-2 diabetes over 30 weeks. Some participants took the injected drug and others had a placebo, all while taking other pills that are common diabetes treatments.

Patients taking the drug averaged weight loss of nearly 12 pounds, a 2 to 4 percent drop in blood pressure, a 24 percent increase in the amount of "good" cholesterol levels and a 6 percent decrease in "bad" cholesterol, the study showed.

A previous study had shown the weight-loss effect of the drug, which is comparable to an insulin product. That initial study also said the drug may cause nausea during its early use.

The drug is derived from the saliva of the Gila monster, a lizard of Mexico and the southwestern United States.

Byetta is also marketed by San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., which researches and develops therapies to treat diabetes and obesity.

"These studies document that Byetta may have additional and important effects on cardiovascular-disease risk factors providing interesting areas for further study, including additional metabolic advantages of weight loss in people with diabetes," said David Kendall of Amylin in a statement issued today.

The drug, approved in the United States in April 2005, had $340 million in sales in 2006. Late last year, Byetta was approved for use in 27 European countries.

More than 20 million Americans and 246 million people worldwide have type-2 diabetes, according to information from the International Diabetes Federation and the American Diabetes Association.
source:www.jconline.com