New Diabetes Drug Improves Blood Sugar

Diet and exercise is all some patients need to manage their type 2 diabetes. Other patients need drugs to control their blood sugar. But not all drugs work the same for all patients. 

Gevokizumab, a new diabetes drug, may improve fluctuations in blood sugar and reduce inflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Ask your doctor about drug options for diabetes.

In type 2 diabetes, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a protein that causes β-cells in the pancreas to fail. β-cells are responsible for the production on insulin, a natural hormone that controls blood sugar levels.

Gevokizumab is a drug that fights these IL-1β proteins.

Marc Y. Donath, MD, of the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland, and colleagues recently studied the effects and safety of gevokizumab in patients with type 2 diabetes.

They found that patients taking medium doses of gevokizumab reduced their HbA1c levels by 0.85 percent after three months.

These patients had improved sensitivity to insulin and lower levels of C-reactive protein - a sign of inflammation, which is a key characteristic of diabetes.

The authors conclude that gevokizumab may reduce inflammation and improve blood sugar control by improving patients' production and use of insulin.

They recommend the drug be used once-a-month or on a longer schedule.

For their study, the researchers split 98 patients into two groups: one receiving gevokizumab at increasing doses and dosing schedules and one receiving placebo.

The study received support from XOMA, the manufacturer of gevokizumab.

The results are published in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.