A class of drugs called GLP-1s, or GLiPS, made a strong showing at this weekend’s big diabetes conference, Dow Jones Newswires reports in this post-conference wrap-up . A bunch of manufacturers — Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Amylin, Alkermes and GlaxoSmithKline — reported promising results from their experimental drugs in the class. The drugs are designed to improve patients’ blood sugar control and tend to be associated with weight loss as well. GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, a naturally occurring hormone that triggers the secretion of insulin in the body

when blood sugar levels rise. GLiPs mimic this hormone. Byetta, from Lilly and Amylin, is a GLiP that’s already on the market, and it’s run into some safety worries as some cases of pancreatitis appeared in patients who were taking the drug. And in April of this year, an FDA advisory panel was divided over whether a risk of thyroid tumors in rodent studies of Novo Nordisk’s GLiP liraglutide should preclude its use in humans.

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Diabetes Drugs: Here Come the GLiPs