A new implanted pump almost the size of a matchstick could prove to be a game-changer for diabetes treatment as it gave better results as compared to the top drugs on the market in a trail.

Kurt Graves, chief executive of Intarcia said, “This now is the ultimate evidence that there could be a totally new way to treat diabetes. We took the risk and the bet and studied our drug against the most common oral drug on the market”.

The implant is said to have performed better in glucose reduction and weight loss, Intarcia reported. The pump even reduced glucose levels by nearly twice as much as Januvia, which brought in nearly $4 billion for Merck last year, and increased weight loss by more than three times as much.

Graves affirmed the new implant has showed a clear superiority. But Merck said in a statement that it is quite sure that physicians will still prefer to recommend Januvia for the treatment.

Intarcia’s device, called ITCA 650, is of the size and shape of a matchstick. It continuously keeps on releasing the diabetes drug into the patient’s body. Implanting and replacing the device is a relatively easy process, Graves said.

He said the pump is directly placed under the skin and cannot be seen. And the game-changing part of the pump is that je device can be left for up to a year in a patient’s body.

Other diabetes treatments require daily or weekly pills and injections. Many patients do not take their drugs regularly and consistently, he added.

Joel Habener, a diabetes researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, said diabetes patients sometimes forget to take drugs regularly and adding a pump like ITCA 650 would eliminate that problem and will provide dose of drug everyday to patients.