Taking on a monster.

Byline: Terri Somers

Apr. 29--Lizard spit makes Dr. John Eng feel like a proud parent.

For more than 25 years Eng has unceremoniously reported to work at the Bronx Veterans Administration Medical Center in New York, where he treated thousands of people for diabetes and other hormone related diseases.

But one day soon, he may show up as a multimillionaire -- thanks to his discovery that the poisonous venom of a Gila monster lizard had the potential to treat diabetes.

The endangered lizard's poison stimulates the body's production of insulin, a hormone that helps cells process blood sugar. It can prevent blood sugar levels from dipping perilously low, or stop it from spiking and causing damage to the liver, kidneys, eyes and limbs.

Nine years ago, Eng licensed his discovery to Amylin Pharmaceuticals of San Diego so the tiny biotechnology company could develop it into a drug for people with type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes, the inability of the body to produce proper amounts of insulin, is the fifth deadliest disease in the United States. And the number of people with type 2, or adult on-set diabetes, is growing at alarming speeds.

Amylin expects to hear any day now whether its type 2 diabetes drug, with a working name exenatide, is approved for market by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug's aim is to help diabetics avoid or postpone the use of insulin injection therapies when other treatments have failed. It has the potential, according to analysts, to be a billion dollar a year drug.

"This (discovery) has taken on a life of its own -- it's as though it has become my fifth child," Eng said recently. "The FDA review is a lot like one of the children taking a final exam that will determine whether they graduate from college and go off into the world to do good, and maybe help a lot of people."

The tale of Eng's discovering the magic that lizard venom can stimulate inside the gut is the essence of basic research that feeds a burgeoning biotechnology industry.

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