(Toronto, ON, September 8, 2008) – In a study published by the
Lancet
journal today, Toronto researcher Dr. Daniel Drucker reported that a
new once-weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes could replace the more
common twice-daily injection.
"Over two million Canadians have
diabetes," said Dr. Daniel Drucker, clinician-scientist and Senior
Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai
Hospital. "There is currently no available therapy for type 2 diabetes
that patients can receive once a week."
The new treatment,
Exenatide once weekly is the first in a new class of long-acting
medications that mimic the action of GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide), a
naturally occurring hormone that is produced in the gut after eating.
The report compared outcomes for patients self-injecting Exenatide once
weekly against results from the conventional 14 injections a week, as
in the currently available version of the drug known as Exenatide
(Byetta).
In an international multicentre 6-month clinical trial
involving 300 eligible patients, 75 per cent of study subjects who
received the once-weekly Exenatide got their diabetes under control as
defined by reaching target glucose levels. Patients treated with
Exenatide once weekly also experienced fewer side effects, had no
increased risk of hypoglycemia (decrease in blood sugars) and saw
reductions in body weight.
Dr. Drucker has studied the gut
hormone GLP-1 for over 20 years. Multiple drugs based on GLP-1 action
are under active clinical development, and the new once-weekly
treatment is expected to undergo Canadian regulatory review as early as
2009.
"Biomedical research reaches patients and improves lives,"
said Dr. Jim Woodgett, Director of Research at the Samuel Lunenfeld
Research Institute. "Dr. Drucker is a world-expert in the development
of peptide hormone-based therapies for the treatment of human disease
and this is an excellent example of moving discovery through to
therapeutic application."