CHICAGO, July 10 (Reuters) - A new class of diabetes drugs touted by drugmakers was moderately effective in controlling blood sugar levels without adding extra weight, but more long-term data are needed before the drugs should be widely embraced, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
The drugs, known as incretin-based therapy, target hormones in the gut that regulate insulin secretion.
Eli Lilly and Co.'s injectable drug Byetta, also known as exenatide, is a synthetic copy of a hormone that occurs naturally. Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. makes the drug with Lilly.
Merck & Co Inc.'s pill, Januvia, or sitagliptin, props up natural insulin levels by blocking an enzyme that breaks down the hormone.
Both drugs for type 2 diabetes seem to sidestep weight gain associated with older treatments and Byetta seems to promote weight loss.
They are part of a wave of treatments poised to hit the market.
Dr. Anastassios Pittas of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston said, "It would be important for physicians and patients not to jump on using new medications at the expense of older, well-established medications, especially when long-term data is lacking." He also said cost should be considered.
"They are 5 to 10 times more expensive than older, well-established medications. Whether they are 5 to 10 times better remains to be seen."
Pittas and colleagues reviewed pooled data from 29 studies to assess the effectiveness and safety of incretin-based therapies in adults with type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease that is linked with poor diet and lack of exercise.
Doctors who treat diabetics are on high alert over drug safety after a New England Journal of Medicine analysis in May that showed GlaxoSmithKline Plc's diabetes drug Avandia boosted the risk of heart attacks.
Pittas and colleagues reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that the drugs appear to be safe with minimal negative side effects. They found Byetta was associated with gastrointestinal problems, while Januvia had a slightly higher risk of infections and headache.
The researchers urged careful monitoring of the drugs after approval to watch for negative side effects.
Diabetes, which affects 194 million people worldwide, is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States.
Treatments include insulin and at least five different classes of drugs, including the sulfonylurea drugs and the meglitinide drugs, metformin, thiazolidinediones like Avandia, which help the body use insulin more effectively; and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, which slow the breakdown of food into glucose.
