Diabetes

Eli Lilly Launches new Diabetes Injection

It actually helps the human body make more of its own insulin

Sandeep Gupta

Eli Lilly and Company India recently announced the launch of Byetta (exenatide injection) to improve blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes in combination with metformin and/or sulphonylureas, two common oral diabetes medications. Speaking on the occasion, Sandeep Gupta, CMD, Lilly India said, "We are delighted to launch Byetta, a novel approach to treating type 2 diabetes. Exenatide is the first in a new class of anti-diabetic medicines known as incretin mimetics and is the first FDA-approved agent of this category."

Incretin mimetics are a distinct class of agents which work to mimic the anti-diabetic or glucose-lowering actions of the naturally occurring human incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).

"Considering the high economic burden caused by diabetes in India, Lilly has prioritised the launch of Byetta in India in the first wave of global launches," continued Gupta. India becomes the fourth major launch in the world after the US, UK and Germany where Byetta is now available.

Added Vinod Mattoo, Endocrinologist and Medical Director at Lilly India, "Byetta is not insulin and is not a substitute for insulin, it actually helps the human body make more of its own insulin." This unique medicine was developed to help treat people with type 2 diabetes in a different way than the traditional oral medications or insulin. Studies with Byetta found that it not only improved blood sugar control but also resulted in a reduction in body weight.

Millions of diabetes sufferers throughout the world can thank the most unlikely of all medical heroes—the desert-dwelling lizard (Gila monster) —for this new and effective drug to control their disease. Dr John Eng, an endocrinologist at the Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York City, is credited with discovering exenatide after working on it for nearly two decades.

EH News Bureau