Eli Lilly and Company India has made announcement of the launching of ‘Byetta’ (Exenatide Injection) that will meliorate blood sugar levels in patients having Type-2 diabetes along with metformin and/or sulphonylureas, two regular oral medicinal drugs for diabetes.

While lecturing on the occasion, Sandeep Gupta, CMD, Lilly India told, “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 separate group of factors that work to mimic the anti-diabetic or glucose-lowering activities 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, Mr. Gupta said.

After the US, UK and Germany, India turns fourth major launch in the world where Byetta is now available, added Mr. Gupta.
 
Vinod Mattoo, Endocrinologist and Medical Director at Lilly India stated, “Byetta is not insulin and is not a substitute for insulin, it actually helps the human body make more of its own insulin.”

Byetta is particularly built up to treat people with type 2 diabetes differently than the customary oral medications or insulin.

Researches performed on Byetta have discovered that it not only enhanced blood sugar control but also reduce body weight.