The announcement on the new drug (which only needs to be taken once a week) sent Amylin shares up as much as 19 percent on Tuesday, while shares of Lilly, the much larger drugmaker, were 2 percent higher.

Amylin is hoping to file for regulatory approval of once weekly Byetta by the end of the second quarter. The currently approved version of Byetta available in the market is typically injected twice a day.

The 26-week study comprising 491 patients compared Byetta LAR, also known as exenatide once weekly, with maximum doses of Merck & Co Inc’s Januvia, known chemically as sitagliptin, and pioglitazone, sold under the brand name Actos by Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd.

The type 2 diabetes patients taking Byetta LAR experienced a reduction in A1C ( a measure of average blood sugar) over three months of 1.7 percentage points from baseline, compared to a reduction of 1.0 percentage point for Januvia and 1.4 percentage points for Actos, according to Amylin.

These results of the DURATION-2 trial were deemed to be statistically significant.

“Today’s data confirm the superiority of exenatide LAR, which has only been assumed to this date, but not tested head- to-head versus existing oral therapies,” Lazard Capital Markets analyst Matthew Osborne wrote in a recent research note.

“We believe data from DURATION-3 trial comparing exenatide LAR versus Lantus could show similar superiority, or at least similar A1C, but with greater weight loss,” Osborne said. The drug Lantus is sold by French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA.

In addition to its advantage in blood sugar control, the Byetta patients also lost an average of 6.2 pounds (2.8 kg) at 26 weeks compared with a loss of 1.9 pounds (0.9 kg) for Januvia and a weight gain of 7.4 pounds (3.4 kg) for Actos.

Weight loss is a very desirable side effect for diabetes treatments as obesity is one of the leading causes of the disease and some drug treatments, such as Actos, can cause weight gain. Patients who took part in this study were generally not obese, which makes the weigh loss even more significant.

“A once-weekly therapy that helps patients achieve A1C targets, with the added benefits of weight loss and no major hypoglycemia, could provide patients with an important option to improve their diabetes care,” Dr Richard Bergenstal, executive director of the International Diabetes Center, said in a statement.

During the 26-week study, the most frequently reported adverse effects amongst Byetta LAR users were nausea and diarrhea, which was similar to Januvia. Upper respiratory tract infections and peripheral edema were the most frequently reported adverse effects reported by those taking Actos in the study.

There were no cases of pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas, seen with Byetta LAR patients in the study, which should be viewed as very good news as Byetta carries a warning about rare cases of the condition. Any cases of panceatitus that crop up in Byetta LAR studies could arouse extra scrutiny from health regulators making an approval decision.

Living with Type II Diabetes?

If this result could be replicated in humans then it could be used to help control Type 2 diabetes, a condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body does not produce sufficient insulin or can not use its insulin properly.

Dr Abdel-Wahab said researchers discovered that the bark of Swertia chirayita, a plant traditionally grown in the Himalayas and also known as chirette, indicated that some compounds extracted from the bark appeared to stimulate insulin production and improve its action.

“Natural anti-diabetic drug discovery is a key area of research that is attracting a lot of interest. More research is needed to establish definitively how and if our findings could be translated into new therapeutic agents for treatments for people with Type 2 diabetes, but we are hopeful that this will one day be the case,” he told a conference in Glasgow.

Many cultures have claimed for centuries that plants and natural extracts can be used to treat diabetes.

One such vegetable is called Momordica cymbalaria, and is similar to an ampalaya which is widely used in India and the Far East and is also known as karela, bitter melon or bitter gourd.

Yet another group of researchers have examined the effect of Gymnema sylvestre on the body’s ability to produce insulin. They determined that extracts from the herb, native to the tropical forests of India, appeared to have a direct effect on human insulin-producing cells found in the pancreas.

“Complementary therapy is an interesting but often understudied area of research for potential diabetes treatments,” said Dr Iain Frame, Director of Research at Diabetes UK.

“Although there is still a long way to go before we could say for certain that any of these plants can help to control Type 2 diabetes, it is important to continue investigating the possibilities,” he said.

“More research is needed before we can fully assess their true importance for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.”

Living with Type II Diabetes?