Kiss of life from the Gila monster

TWO US pharmaceuticals companies are claiming positive results from an experimental diabetes drug made from the saliva of the desert-dwelling Gila monster lizard.

They claim that the drug, known as Exenatide, not only controls blood sugar levels, but also helps sufferers lose weight.

American drugs firms Eli Lilly and Amylin, which also has operations in Oxford, yesterday released new study findings on the treatment for Type 2, also known as adult onset diabetes, at the Congress of the International Diabetes.

Federation in Paris. The Gila monster, which lives in the deserts of Arizona, Utah and California, grows to between 18in and 24in long. It has orange, pink or yellow markings and a poisonous bite.

Because it eats about only four times a year, it produces in its saliva a compound called exendin, which helps prevent a sudden surge in its blood sugar levels.

A growing number of Britons are becoming Type 2 diabetics as a result of couch potato lifestyles and too much junk food.

Formerly associated with middle age, it is now afflicting children and young teenagers. About 200m worldwide suffer from adult onset diabetes.

In the latest trial of Exenatide, involving 155 patients, the drug helped control blood sugar levels in 44% of sufferers who had previously failed therapy. Patients also lost half a stone on average over the 24 weeks of treatment.

Exenatide is on track to be submitted for approval by regulators in 2004. Analysts said sales of the drug could hit £300m after three years.

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