A drug developed from the saliva of a rare poisonous lizard for the treatment of diabetes has been approved by European regulators.

The European Medicines Agency agreed yesterday to allow Eli Lilly, the American pharmaceuticals group, to market the drug, Byetta, for diabetics in Europe, of whom there are about 48 million.

Exenatide, the active compound in Byetta, was discovered as a protein naturally secreted in the saliva of the Gila monster, a lizard found in the deserts of the southern United States and northern Mexico.

It works in diabetic patients by mimicking natural hormones that stimulate the production of insulin, which breaks down sugar in the blood.

The Gila monster, named after the Gila River in Arizona, eats only rarely and the exenatide helps it to regulate glucose levels in its blood on the rare occasions that it does.

Byetta is a synthetic version of exenatide designed for human use that is intended to be injected twice a day. The product is aimed at sufferers of Type-2 diabetes, the type associated with obesity and lifestyle, which is becoming a pandemic.

About 1.8 million people in Britain — roughly 3 per cent of the population — suffer from diabetes. The figure is expected to rise to three million by 2010.

Abbas Hussain, European vice-president of Eli Lilly, said that Byetta was superior to other anti-diabetes drugs because it encouraged greater weight loss.

Byetta has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. So far it has been used by 400,000 US patients. It generated sales of $126.4 million (£67 million) for Eli Lilly in the third quarter of this year, a 28 per cent increase on the previous quarter. Mr Hussain said that the drug would be launched in Britain in mid-2007. He declined to comment on the likely price, but said that it would “probably be lower” than its current price of $6 per day of therapy in the US.

The direct and indirect costs of the global diabetes epidemic are thought to be as much as $286 billion a year. About 194 million people suffer from the disease. Many are unable to work and require expensive round-the-clock treatment. Diabetes can also lead to long-term complications, such as cardiovascular problems, blindness and even amputation of limbs.

The global market for diabetes drugs, including insulin, “mimetics”, such as Byetta, and anti-diabetic tablets, is worth roughly $10 billion a year. The figure is expected to rise to $25 billion by 2011.

Byetta is not the only drug to have been developed from an unusual animal source. Paion, a German biotechnology company, is developing a medicine for strokes based on a protein discovered in vampire bats.

Animal Magic

Byetta
Key ingredient in Eli Lilly’s new diabetes drug was first found in the Gila monster, a Mexican lizard.

Tectin
Wex Pharmaceuticals, of Canada, is developing this powerful painkiller from a toxin found in puffer fish.

DSPA
An experimental drug for stroke victims being developed by Germany’s Paion from proteins found in vampire bats.

Tubocurarine
Anaesthetic discovered in a plant used by South American indians as a source of arrow poison.

Explore Health

• Expert Advice

• Health Features

• Mental Health

• Alternative Medicine

• Child Health

• Health Club