A Harvard Medical School scientist's experiments with fish discarded along the coast near Boston have led to a new class of diabetes drugs. The latest, from Novartis, may get U.S. approval this week.

In the late 1970s, Habener, a doctor specializing in diabetes care, began buying discarded fish to learn about the ways animals controlled blood sugar. By 1987 Habener discovered a protein in the pancreas of anglerfish that tells the pancreas to produce insulin. He called it glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1. In 1995, researchers uncovered another use for Habener's discovery to treat diabetes. The scientists found an enzyme that digests GLP. By blocking the enzyme, they could increase the body's reserves of GLP, thereby raising insulin levels. Twenty years later, we will soon have the pleasure of meeting Novartis' concept for this chronology of discoveries in the form of liraglutide.

In clinical trials, patients taking liraglutide attained normal blood sugars without the common side effect of weight gain. In fact, liraglutide was more likely to make the patients slightly leaner. Depending on dosage and length of treatment, it may help patients to lose weight. The drug does not cause a change in appetite. Furthermore, none of the liraglutide patients experienced episodes of low blood sugar levels throughout the trials.

I'm no fisherman, but if all the seagulls of Big Pharma are swarming overhead - there's bound to be a school of fish below. However, this school is quite competitive. At last count, the five largest diabetic drug makers are using Habener's findings to create new medicines.