Byetta (Exenatide): Uses, Side Effects

Byetta is a twice-daily injection of exenatide made by AstraZeneca, first FDA approved in 2005, for type 2 diabetes. Nausea is the most common side effect in its label: 44% vs 18% on placebo.

Active ingredient: exenatide
Manufacturer: AstraZeneca
How it is taken: twice-daily injection
First FDA approval: 2005
Most common side effect: Nausea 44% vs 18% on placebo

Byetta in brief

How long it stays in your body

Half-life: 2.4 hours. By 2.4 h, half is gone; once five half-lives (12 h) have passed, about 3% is left.

How much weight was lost in the main trial

in a monotherapy trial of 24 weeks in type 2 diabetes, people lost 2.9 kg, compared with 1.5 kg on placebo.

Sources: FDA label (DailyMed).

Byetta uses and forms

Uses, forms and warnings for Byetta come from the FDA label. Your dose is set by your prescriber and the label.

Byetta in brief
	What the label says
Approved use	Along with diet and exercise, it lowers blood sugar for adults with type 2 diabetes.
Forms	Prefilled pen (60 doses)
Strengths on the label	5 mcg, 10 mcg per dose
Storage	Store it in the fridge before you use it first. After that, keep it at or below 77°F and discard the pen 30 days after that first use.

Sources: FDA label (DailyMed).

Byetta side effects

In the label's trials, each side effect is listed with how often it appeared, beside placebo (a dummy treatment). Type 2 diabetes was the condition studied, in adults.

Table 3 lists Treatment-Emergent Adverse Reactions with an Incidence of ≥2% and Greater Incidence with BYETTA Treatment, compared with placebo, when used with Metformin and/or a Sulfonylurea (Hypoglycemia excluded). Data come from three 30-week placebo-controlled trials.
Side effect	Byetta Byetta (all doses)	Placebo
Nausea	44%	18%
Vomiting	13%	4%
Diarrhea	13%	6%
Feeling Jittery	9%	4%
Dizziness	9%	6%
Headache	9%	6%

Sources: FDA label (DailyMed).

The label warns about Acute Pancreatitis, Hypoglycemia related to Concomitant Use of Insulin Secretagogues or Insulin, Acute Kidney Injury Due to Volume Depletion. It also lists Severe Gastrointestinal Adverse Reactions, Immunogenicity, Hypersensitivity, Drug-Induced Thrombocytopenia, plus Acute Gallbladder Disease.

Get medical help right away if

Stomach pain that is severe and will not go away: stop this medicine and seek medical care right away. It sometimes spreads to your back, with or without vomiting.
A fever, yellow skin or eyes, clay-colored stools, or pain in your upper right belly may signal a gallbladder problem, so call your doctor.
Call your doctor if vomiting or diarrhea stops you from keeping fluids down. Also call if you pee much less than usual (dehydration puts you at risk of kidney injury).
Shaking, sweating, confusion, fast heartbeat or fainting call for treating low blood sugar and calling your doctor, especially if you use insulin or a sulfonylurea.
Call your doctor if nausea, vomiting or diarrhea is severe, or if it does not ease.

Call 911 for trouble breathing, for swelling of the face or throat, or for fainting.

Label warnings source: FDA label (DailyMed).

Byetta interactions

Interactions for Byetta listed on the label
Taken with	What the label says
Insulin or sulfonylureas	The risk of low blood sugar goes up when it is combined with insulin, or with a sulfonylurea medicine such as glipizide or glimepiride. Your doctor may lower those doses.
Oral medicines	Because it slows stomach emptying, other pills can be absorbed differently.
Warfarin and narrow-range drugs	For medicines where small level changes matter (for example warfarin), closer monitoring is needed.
Birth control pills and antibiotics	If a pill needs a steady level, such as a birth control pill or antibiotic, take it at least 1 hour before your Byetta shot.

Sources: FDA label (DailyMed).

Check a GLP-1 interaction

Which GLP-1 medicine?1 of 2

What do you want to combine it with?2 of 2

Alternatives to Byetta

Other medicines that have the same use as Byetta
Medicine	Ingredient	How it is taken	Shared use	Self-pay from
Ozempic	semaglutide	weekly injection	type 2 diabetes	$199 per month
Rybelsus	semaglutide	daily tablet	type 2 diabetes	Not listed
Mounjaro	tirzepatide	weekly injection	type 2 diabetes	Not listed
Trulicity	dulaglutide	weekly injection	type 2 diabetes	Not listed
Victoza	liraglutide	daily injection	type 2 diabetes	Not listed

Sources: TrumpRx.

The Byetta label and studies

For complete details, see Full Byetta prescribing information on DailyMed.