Weekly Exenatide Equals Daily Glargine Insulin for Glycemic Control

Exenatide (Byetta), an injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, is useful in managing patients with type 2 diabetes, because it stimulates glucose-dependent insulin secretion, reduces glucagon secretion, slows gastric emptying, and attenuates food intake. A once-weekly injectable form of exenatide is more effective than the currently FDA-approved twice-daily exenatide formulation for lowering glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) levels and for weight loss (JW Gen Med Oct 16 2008), but the long-acting formulation has not been compared previously with long-acting insulin.

International investigators enrolled 456 patients with HbA_1c levels between 7.1% and 11.0% after metformin therapy (either alone or with a sulfonylurea) for at…