Regulator notes potential cancer risk for weekly Byetta

A top regulator at the FDA has noted that data on the long-acting diabetes drug Byetta from Amylin and Eli Lilly indicate that the drug could be linked to a higher risk of cancer similar to that seen in Novo Nordisk's Victoza. Both are GLP-1 analogs. Analysts were quick to note that if the FDA responds with a black box warning on the risk, the companies were likely to see a slower uptake. The FDA temporarily delayed its decision on the once-weekly therapy after raising a few questions about the...

The Jury’s Still Out on Victoza

Novo Nordisk is well-known in the diabetes community for its insulins, Novolog and Levemir, used to treat mainly type 1 diabetes. But in the last year, Novo launched a new kind of injectable, a “first line of defense for people with type 2 diabetes” called Victoza (generic: liraglutide). It’s a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drug designed...