Prescription medication · GLP-1 Receptor Agonist
exenatide
Also sold as Byetta, Bydureon. Byetta helps adults with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels.
Data updated 2026-05-15
- 52,302
- FDA reportsOften reported
- 2
- InteractionsFew interactions
- $340.29
- Brand price (NADAC)
What the data shows
exenatide (Byetta) is a prescription GLP-1 Receptor Agonist, reported at a middle-of-the-pack volume (52,302 FDA reports), with 2 documented drug interactions.
Reporting volume reflects how widely a drug is used and studied, not how dangerous it is, a FAERS report documents a temporal association, never proof of cause.
exenatide (Byetta) is a prescription GLP-1 Receptor Agonist. Byetta helps adults with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels.
Byetta is a medicine that helps adults with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar. It works along with diet and exercise.
Verify with FDA → · CMS NADAC pricing →
Drug Pricing (NADAC)
Brand Price
$340.29/unit
Generic Available
Yes (1 manufacturer)
Pricing data from NADAC (CMS), effective December 18, 2024. Compare all drug costs →
What it does
Byetta helps adults with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels.
Common side effects
Nausea, Low blood sugar, Vomiting
Key warnings
Byetta may cause serious side effects, including pancreatitis.
The sections below are summarized in plain English from exenatide's FDA-approved prescribing information. They describe what the official label says, and are not personal medical advice.
How It Works
Byetta is a GLP-1 receptor agonist. It works by helping your body release insulin when your blood sugar is high. It also lowers the amount of sugar your liver makes.
Side Effects (from patient reports)
Based on 52,302 FDA adverse event reports.
Most-reported reactions
Adverse reactions in FAERS for exenatide, by number of reports
- Blood Glucose Increased
Blood Glucose Increased
15,472 reports
- Weight Decreased
Weight Decreased
12,125 reports
- Nausea
Nausea
12,040 reports
- Decreased Appetite 5,643
Decreased Appetite
5,643 reports
- Blood Glucose Decreased 5,517
Blood Glucose Decreased
5,517 reports
- Vomiting 4,345
Vomiting
4,345 reports
- Diarrhoea 2,742
Diarrhoea
2,742 reports
- Dizziness 2,673
Dizziness
2,673 reports
- Headache 2,086
Headache
2,086 reports
- Injection Site Pain 2,023
Injection Site Pain
2,023 reports
What this shows Bars show how often each reaction was reported, not how likely it is to happen, a report records a temporal association, never proof that the drug caused it.
Reports over time
Adverse-event reports filed for exenatide each year to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).
Year-to-year volume tracks usage, prescribing, and scrutiny, not a change in per-patient risk. Source: FDA FAERS.
Where exenatide sits
exenatide has more FDA adverse-event reports than 74% of the drugs FAERS tracks. A high position reflects how widely a drug is used and watched, not how dangerous it is.
Percentile across all drugs PlainMeds tracks by FAERS report volume. The dot is exenatide; the line is the median (50th percentile).
FDA Adverse Event Report Analysis
Detailed analysis of 52,302 reports from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Reports span 2005–2025.
Total Reports
52,302
Reports Mentioning Death
1,762
3.4% of reports — not proof of cause
Hospitalization Reports
7,532
Top Indication
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Gender Distribution
Age Distribution
Most Reported Adverse Reactions (FAERS)
| # | Reaction | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BLOOD GLUCOSE INCREASED | 15,472 |
| 2 | WEIGHT DECREASED | 12,125 |
| 3 | NAUSEA | 12,040 |
| 4 | DECREASED APPETITE | 5,643 |
| 5 | BLOOD GLUCOSE DECREASED | 5,517 |
| 6 | VOMITING | 4,345 |
| 7 | DIARRHOEA | 2,742 |
| 8 | DIZZINESS | 2,673 |
| 10 | HEADACHE | 2,086 |
| 11 | INJECTION SITE PAIN | 2,023 |
| 12 | PANCREATITIS | 2,012 |
| 13 | INJECTION SITE BRUISING | 1,843 |
| 14 | INJECTION SITE HAEMORRHAGE | 1,809 |
| 15 | FATIGUE | 1,759 |
| 16 | FEELING ABNORMAL | 1,664 |
Reactions in Death Reports
Reactions in Hospitalization Reports
Source: FDA FAERS (Adverse Event Reporting System) Reports are voluntary and do not establish causation
Serious Warnings
Byetta may cause serious side effects, including pancreatitis. If you have severe stomach pain that won't go away, stop using Byetta and call your doctor right away. Never share your Byetta pen with anyone else, even if you change the needle.
Known Drug Interactions
Orally Administered Drugs (e.g., acetaminophen) Clinical Impact Exenatide slows gastric emptying.
Mechanism: Exenatide slows down the movement of food and medicine out of your stomach, which can delay how fast acetaminophen starts working.
( 7 ) • Warfarin: Postmarketing reports of increased INR sometimes associated with bleeding. Warfarin Clinical Impact In a drug interaction study, BYETTA did not have a significant effect on INR [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3) ] . There have been postmarketing reports for BYETTA of increased INR with concomitant use of warfarin, sometimes associated with bleeding [see Adverse Reactions (6.2) ] .
Mechanism: Taking these drugs together may change how your blood clots, which can lead to a higher risk of bleeding.
This is a plain-language summary of FDA-label interaction records and does not provide individual medication-combination directions.
Common Questions
Can I use Byetta with other diabetes medicines?
What should I do if I feel sick to my stomach?
Can Byetta cause low blood sugar?
Where should I inject Byetta?
How long does Byetta take to work?
What if the Byetta solution looks cloudy?
Can I travel with my Byetta pen?
What should I do if I have an allergic reaction?
Does Byetta cause weight loss?
Can I drink alcohol while taking Byetta?
What are the common side effects of exenatide?
Does exenatide interact with other medications?
What drug class is exenatide?
What pregnancy or breastfeeding source fields are listed for exenatide?
Related Medications in GLP-1 Receptor Agonist
Other drugs grouped near exenatide - same-class peers and common alternatives.
acarbose
Precose
Acarbose is a medicine that helps lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
Compare with exenatide →
alogliptin
Nesina
Compare with exenatide →
bromocriptine
Cycloset
Bromocriptine (Cycloset) is a medicine that acts like dopamine in your body.
Compare with exenatide →
canagliflozin
Invokana
Invokana is a medicine used with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes.
Compare with exenatide →
colesevelam
Welchol
Colesevelam is a medicine that helps lower bad cholesterol (LDL-C) and control blood sugar in adults.
Compare with exenatide →
Compare beyond drug class
Nationwide peers by FAERS volume & death-report share
Two PlainMeds-derived comparison paths for exenatide: nearest FDA FAERS report volume and nearest death-report share among drugs with at least 1,000 logged reports, excluding same-class neighbors listed above. Counts reflect reporting volume, not proven individual harm.
Similar FAERS report volume
Nearest drugs by total FAERS reports. This record: 52,302.
Similar death-report share
Nearest drugs by FAERS death-report share. This record: 3.37%.
- vilazodone Δ 0.01 pts · 9,764 reports · SSRI / 5-HT1A Partial Agonist 3.36%death share
- permethrin Δ 0.09 pts · 1,707 reports · Topical Antiparasitic 3.46%death share
- paliperidone Δ 0.15 pts · 22,775 reports · Atypical Antipsychotic 3.52%death share
- pegloticase Δ 0.17 pts · 3,350 reports · Recombinant Uricase 3.19%death share
Medication Guides
Understanding Drug Interactions
How CYP450 enzymes, inhibitors, and inducers affect your medications
Generic vs Brand Name Drugs
FDA requirements, cost savings, and when the difference matters
Narrow Therapeutic Index Drugs
FDA bioequivalence and label-record context for narrow therapeutic index medicines
Common Drug Interactions
Dangerous medication combinations and how to protect yourself
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What the FDA Data Shows for exenatide
The FDA label for exenatide (sold under brand names such as Byetta, Bydureon) classifies it as a prescription-only medication in the GLP-1 Receptor Agonist class. Byetta helps adults with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels. Official labeling lists 10 commonly reported side effects, including Nausea, Low blood sugar, Vomiting.
Post-market surveillance from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) captures real-world experience. For this drug, FAERS contains 52,302 voluntary reports. The database also lists 2 documented drug interactions derived from FDA labeling, with the top-flagged interaction rated minor severity. NADAC pricing from CMS.
Report counts do not establish causation, a FAERS entry documents a temporal association, not proof that the drug produced the outcome. Widely prescribed medications naturally accumulate more reports than niche therapies, so raw totals must be interpreted alongside total exposure. Shortage status, recall history, and patent information are separate source-record fields. This page is a public FDA/CMS registry and does not provide medical, treatment, substitution, or medication-change directions.
Data Sources
Drug labeling: FDA Drug Labels (SPL/DailyMed). Adverse events: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Pricing: CMS National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC).
FAERS reports are voluntary and do not establish causation. Drug interactions are derived from FDA labeling and clinical references. This registry does not provide medication decisions.
Last updated: September 2, 2025
PlainMeds is rendered directly from FDA openFDA/FAERS extracts, DailyMed labels, and CMS drug-pricing files, no number is typed in by an editor. FAERS counts, recalls, shortages, and price figures on this page are queried live from those federal extracts. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-05-15. Primary sources: openFDA / FAERS, DailyMed and CMS Part B ASP.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Data currency: FDA FAERS adverse-event reports through 2025, CMS NADAC acquisition-cost pricing effective December 2024, compiled from the source snapshot dated . See our methodology for per-source dates and refresh cadence. Spot a figure that looks wrong? Report a data issue.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FDA Orange Book - approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence. accessdata.fda.gov/cder/ob
- FDA DailyMed - NIH-hosted drug labeling for FDA-approved meds. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
- FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) - post-marketing safety surveillance. fda.gov/drugs/faers
- NLM RxNorm - standardized clinical drug nomenclature. nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/rxnorm
- CMS Medicare Part B Drug Average Sales Price Files - federal drug pricing data. cms.gov/medicare/part-b-drugs/asp
- FDA Drug Shortages Database - current and resolved drug shortage tracking. accessdata.fda.gov/drugshortages