New Class Of Drugs Targets Diabetes; But When Will They Launch?; Analysts say at least one potential blockbuster might be available by 2006.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)

Byline: GLORIA LAU

Diabetes afflicts 18.2 million people in the U.S. -- more than 6% of the entire population.

It's the leading cause of new onset blindness, kidney disease and lower limb amputations. And it quadruples your risk of death by heart disease, which is already the country's No. 1 killer. Every year 1.3 million more Americans are diagnosed.

To help combat the disease, several drug makers are in the late stages of studying novel treatments.

Among the promising medicines is Exenatide, an injectable drug that's a chemical copy of a substance found in the saliva of Gila monsters.

Exenatide is the first in a new class of treatments dubbed incretin mimetics.

It …