New diabetes drug lixisenatide shows well in tests

Tue, 21 Sep 2010
Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis have reported that their experimental diabetes drug lixisenatide has had positive results in studies. Tests have shown that the drug displayed better control over blood sugar levels than a placebo .

The study into lixisenatide examined 361 patients with type 2 diabetes who randomly received either lixisenatide or a placebo treatment over a three-month period, with patients taking a daily dose as part of the test. The company said that the side effects with lixisenatide were mild, and included some nausea .

Lixisenatide is aimed at helping to control blood sugar by increasing insulin production and slowing down the body's absorption of sugar, and is one of the new GLP-1 class of drugs for diabetes, which also includes Byetta, sold by Eli Lilly and Co. and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Although there have been concerns about the safety of some of the drugs within the GLP-1 class, such as Victoza, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, which was approved but included a warning about the risk for thyroid cancer and the requirement of a risk-mitigation strategy for patients taking the drug, early signs are that lixisenatide could be a safer treatment for diabetics .

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