Lizard Spit Drug Controls Diabetes, Cuts Weight

Reuters ^ | 08/25/03

[nypokerface]

PARIS (Reuters) - Exenatide, an experimental diabetes drug derived from lizard saliva, not only controls patients' blood sugar levels but also cuts their weight, its developers said on Monday.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc and Eli Lilly and Co released new study findings on the efficacy of exenatide at the 18th Congress of the International Diabetes Federation in Paris.

The drug, derived from the saliva of a lizard known as the Gila monster, is the first in a new class of therapies for type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes and is on track to be submitted for approval by regulators in 2004. Analysts forecast annual sales could top $500 million after three years.

The Gila monster lizard lives in the Arizona desert, only eating about four times a year. Its salivary secretions help prevent a sudden surge in blood sugar levels in response to these infrequent but large meals.

The latest exenatide test involved 155 patients who had failed to reach target glucose levels on established diabetes drugs metformin and sulfonylurea, or a combination of the two.

When researchers added injections of exenatide, 44 percent of patients who completed 24 weeks of treatment achieved glucose level averages within the target range, the companies said.

Patients also lost on average 7.5 pounds.

Amylin CEO, Dan Bradbury, told Reuters that being able to control the blood sugar levels of so many patients who had previously failed therapy was a "pretty exciting result."

The most frequently reported side effect in the study was mild to moderate nausea, which decreased with continued treatment.

[dirtboy]

Great. If I ever get diabetes, I'll keep a Gila monster around and have it bite me on the leg periodically.

[billb]

Didn't Sharon Stone try to off her husband this way?

[general_re]

I seem to recall that in order to deploy their venom, they have to kind of chew rather than just bite. You might just want to leave it attached permanently...

[dirtboy]

I seem to recall that in order to deploy their venom, they have to kind of chew rather than just bite. You might just want to leave it attached permanently...

I could just hang one off an earlobe, wouldn't be any stranger than what some of the kids are wearing nowadays.

[templar]

I'll keep a Gila monster around and have it bite me on the leg periodically.

That will most certainly result in rapid weight loss.

[general_re]

"Hey, is that a lizard in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?"

[dirtboy]

Here's my fashion accessory:

[LurkedLongEnough]

How do they get the spit out of the lizards?

[tomakaze]

RE:Lizard Spit Drug Controls Diabetes, Cuts Weight
 
So does a low-carb diet (lizard spit optional lol)

[general_re]

"Sorry, I have to pass on dessert - I left my lizard at home..."

[dirtboy]

So does a low-carb diet (lizard spit optional lol)

Instead of using syrup on your pancakes, just have a lizard drool on them.

[dirtboy]

"Sorry, I have to pass on dessert - I left my lizard at home..."

Pretty soon we'll have B.B. King affixing a Gila monster to his arm in television commercials.

[dirtboy]

How do they get the spit out of the lizards?

Show the males a picture of Helen Thomas - Gila monsters are the only animals to find her attractive.

[Alex Murphy]

Actually, I think you're required to french-kiss the lizard within a half-hour of each meal for it to be effective. If you don't stop eating out of revulsion (hence the weight-loss) your blood sugar will drop as it bites your lip and it's venom starts to flow into your bloodstream.

Seriously, how do researchers come up with this stuff? Was someone in the uber-secret Arizona lab staring, bored out of his/her skull, staring out of the window one day - spots a roaming gila monster, and decides "hey, I've got nothing better to do. I'll grab that lizard, let it drool into my mouth, and use my government grant money to pay for research into what it does to me?" Waddya wanna bet he was expecting to find another free psychotropic drug source, i.e. toad-licking?

[tomakaze]

re:Instead of using syrup on your pancakes, just have a lizard drool on them.
 
Now *that's* a photoshop waiting to happen.
Aunt Jeguana's Syrup lol.

[LaraCroft]

What? Diet and Exersize? What kind of radical fringe nut are you?

Thats work! I want a pill!

[Constitution Day]

Lizard Lick, NC

[general_re]

Will he name his lizard "Lucille"?

What about Wilford Brimley? He could tie his Quaker Oats commercials together with his diabetes commercials. "Lizard spit - it's the right thing to do."

[bethelgrad]

"How do they get the spit out of the lizards?"


By showing them pics of naked lady lizards