Exenatide once weekly: opportunities in the primary care setting.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a pandemic, with millions of new diagnoses made each year. In the United States, > 90% of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are cared for by primary care physicians who bear the primary responsibility of diagnosing and treating this disease. Building an optimal treatment regimen for a patient from the many choices available depends on many factors, including the ability of a given therapy to safely and effectively lower blood glucose levels, and potential benefits on body weight, cardiovascular risk factors, and hypoglycemia risk. With these considerations at the forefront, this article provides an overview of exenatide once weekly (EQW), a recently available antidiabetes therapy in the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist class designed to provide continuous glycemic control with once-weekly dosing. We discuss the clinical trials that have demonstrated the ability of EQW to effectively lower blood glucose levels and body weight with a minimal risk of hypoglycemia. In addition, we examine other issues likely to be relevant in a primary care setting, including safety and tolerability profiles, pharmacology and dosing, ease of use, recommended place in treatment, and patient perceptions of EQW.