Amylin, Elli Lilly tout diabetes drug over Merck
Tuesday September 9, 9:16 am ET
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly tout Byetta post-meal effectiveness over Merck's Januvia
Amylin has been a good short over the past month, maybe time to cover and go long!
NEW YORK (AP) -- Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. said Tuesday their diabetes drug Byetta worked better at reducing blood-sugar levels following a meal compared with Merck & Co.'s Januvia.
The results, based on a a four-week study, were released at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes's annual meeting in Rome, where there has been a flurry of data and posturing by rivals trying to gain an advantage in the competitive diabetes treatment market.
Byetta, which was launched in 2005, is a twice-daily injection and member of a class of treatments known as GLP-1 drugs. Merck's Januvia is part of the DPP-IV inhibitor class and is a pill taken once a day.
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck also touted a series of studies Tuesday showcasing the effectiveness of Januvia. The company said Januvia in combination with the treatment metformin was effective and well-tolerated after two years of treatment.
Both products treat Type 2 diabetes by helping the body better use the insulin it already produces. In Type 2 diabetics, the body produces enough insulin but does not use it effectively. Byetta, however, has come under fire recently after the company announced a series of deaths related to pancreatitis.
San Diego-based Amylin and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly also sell the drug with Alkermes Inc., and the companies are developing a long-acting version, called Exenatide LAR. It would be taken once a week.
In this most recent study, Amylin and Eli Lilly said patients taking Byetta had significant improvements in their blood-sugar levels two hours after eating, compared with patients taking Januvia.
"There has been some confusion in the marketplace about the therapeutic differences between Byetta and Januvia, and data from this first head-to-head study showed a clear difference in the mechanisms of action and resultant short-term clinical effects between these two agents," Dr. Ralph DeFronzo, an investigator on the clinical trial, said in a statement released by Amylin and Eli Lilly.
DeFronzo is a professor of medicine and chief of the diabetes division at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
Representatives at Merck were not immediately available for comment Tuesday morning.
surf's up......crikey
