Amylin/Lilly's Byetta comparable to insulin

US drugmakers Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly say that the results of a study that compared their co-developed antidiabetic Byetta (exantide) with insulin glargine therapies in diabetic patients indicate that, while both therapies were associated with improvements in blood sugar control, Byetta was linked to weight loss and a lower incidence of hypoglycemia.

The findings are based on data from an open-label cross-over study, which were unveiled at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting in Chicago. During the trial, patients were provided with either a daily dose of 5mcg Byetta, increasing to 10mcg after a period of four weeks, plus metformin or a sulfonylurea, or insulin glargine and either metformin or a sulfonylurea. The results showed that, in terms of blood sugar control, both treatments were comparable; A1C levels dropped by 1.43% and 1.41%, respectively.

In addition, Byetta was associated with a statistically-significant lower risk of hypoglycemia than insulin glargine (2.6% versus 17.4%), and was linked to average weight loss of 5.7 pounds, whereas the alternate treatment resulted in a mean 1.3 pound weight gain.