Sanofi (SAN) defended its experimental drug Lyxumia after some scientists questioned the medicine’s novelty at a diabetes conference. Lyxumia isn’t “at all” an imitation of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)’s Byetta, Pierre Chancel, who heads Sanofi Diabetes, said yesterday in Berlin, where he attended the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference. The drug is “as effective as Byetta with one injection a day, super simple to use and super safe,” he said in an interview. Sanofi needs to show Lyxumia helps patients who suffer from the most common form of diabetes, known as type 2, control the level of sugar in their blood with one injection a day to gain an edge over Byetta, which requires two shots, and other drugs from the same class. At the conference this week, participants questioned whether Lyxumia really requires only one shot.
