Drug News
Type 2 diabetes can be treated once weekly
By Sue Mueller
Sep 7, 2008 - 6:12:39 PM

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Sunday Sep 7, 2008(foodconsumer.org) -- A new Canadian study published by the Lancet journal today showed that type 2 diabetes patients now can get their condition under control by receiving medications once weekly instead of twice a day.

Exenatide the drug used for the once weekly diabetes treatment is the first in a new class of long-acting drugs that mimic the action of glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), a naturally occurring hormone that is produced in the gut after eating.

In the study, Dr. Daniel Drucker at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital in Canada tested the treatment in 300 diabetes patients with 75 percent of them given the once-weekly Exenatide for six months.

Those on Exenatide got their diabetes well under control and they experienced fewer side effects and no increased risk of hypoglycemia.

The new once weekly diabetes treatment is expected to get Canadian regulatory review as early as 2009, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute says in its press release.