Type-2 diabetics got a new option to help control their blood sugar Friday, a drug derived from the saliva of the Gila monster - but one that must be injected twice a day. The Food and Drug Administration approved Byetta, known chemically as exenatide, the first in a new class of medications for Type 2 diabetes - but for now, it's supposed to be used together with older diabetes drugs, not alone. Makers Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co. said the prescription drug would begin selling by June 1, but wouldn't provide a price. Some 18 million Americans have diabetes, the vast majority the Type 2 form, in which the body loses the ability to turn blood sugar into energy because it either doesn't produce enough insulin or doesn't use it correctly. It is closely associated with obesity. When diet and exercise aren't enough to control Type 2 diabetes, patients can try certain oral medications to lower blood sugar. The most common, drugs called sulfonylureas, spur the body to produce more insulin. When those drugs fail, adding Byetta to them offers patients a new option to try before resorting to injections of insulin.
