The 30-week study was conducted at 59 centers in five countries (Greece, Israel, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S.) with 261 participants. All were adults with type 2 diabetes who were taking once-daily injections of Lantus, either alone or with diabetes pills. They were randomly assigned to receive twice-daily injections of Byetta or placebo in addition to the diabetes medications that they were taking.

Among the 138 patients on Byetta, 60 percent achieved near normal blood sugar levels, compared to 35 percent of those on placebo. Byetta recipients also lost an average of four pounds during the study while placebo recipients gained an average of two pounds. There were no differences in the rates of hypoglycemia between the two groups.

Byetta recipients reported side effects more frequently than placebo recipients, particularly nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but only in 10 percent of cases were the side effects bad enough to cause patients to stop the drug.

Source: University of North Carolina School of Medicine