According to the analysts the sales of Byetta (injected twice daily) has declined for a variety of reasons (competition from oral DPP-IV inhibitor Januvia, pancreatitis concerns and inconvenient delivery).  In addition, the firms expect Byetta sales to be negatively impacted following the launch of competing drug Victoza (NVO) (approved in January 2010).  Therefore, they believe that the company’s future prospects at present are highly dependent on the clinical and commercial success of its long-acting GLP-1, exenatide-LAR (LAR; injected once weekly).  Though the firms believe that the efficacy, weight loss and dosing advantages of LAR are meaningful, they feel that its market potential could be limited by physician concerns with the potential risk of thyroid cancer (reported in preclinical animal models of long-acting GLP-1s), and an increasing number of competitor once-weekly GLP-1s in mid- to late stage development (Roche’s Taspoglutide, GlaxoSmith’s Syncria, Eli Lilly’s LY2189265, and Novo Nordisk’s NN9535).