WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- Lilly/Amylin's new diabetes drug Byetta not only does not cause weight gain, but it appears to help diabetics lose weight.
The companies released findings this week at the American Diabetes Assocation meeting in Washington, D.C. showing that patients taking Byetta experienced sustained improvement in blood glucose control over two years. But the patients also lost an average of ten pounds in that time period.
The injectable drug's slimming side effect is considered a major breakthrough in diabetes therapies, since most drugs patients take to control their blood glucose levels also cause weight gain.
The companies' two-year data also showed patients on Byetta sustained an average hemoglobin A1C (A1C) reduction of 1.1 percent from baseline, compared to an A1C reduction of 1.1 percent achieved during the drug's initial 30-week clinical trial.
A1C measures a patient's average glucose level over a three-month period, and is commonly used by doctors to assess blood glucose management.
ADA recommends a target A1C of less than 7 percent, the companies said, noting that 50 percent of patients in the two-year study achieved an A1C of 7 percent or less, and 31 percent achieved an A1C of 6.5 percent or less.
Byetta was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in April 2005 as an adjunctive therapy for patients who failed to adequately control their blood sugar with two common diabetes oral medicines, metformin and/or sulfonylurea.
