Once-a-week diabetes drug advances
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NEW YORK - Drug makers Eli Lilly and Co., Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Alkermes Inc. said yesterday the Food and Drug Administration has accepted their application for the once-a-week diabetes drug exenatide.
Exenatide is the primary ingredient of Byetta, a treatment for type 2 diabetes. While Byetta is injected twice a day, the newer drug is intended to be injected weekly. Both products are designed to help diabetes patients keep their blood glucose under control by sending a signal to the pancreas, leading to the production of insulin. That reduces appetite and can also reduce weight.
Lilly, based in Indianapolis, has not launched a new drug since the original Byetta in 2005. Sales of Byetta totaled $751.4 million in 2008.
Amylin, based in San Diego, develops diabetes treatments and obesity treatments, and Cambridge, Mass.- based Alkermes developed the extended-release technology used in the drug.
