Now the hard part

It has been a long slog to approval for Cycloset bromocriptine, and the hard part is just beginning. Following last week's approval from FDA for Type II diabetes, VeroScience LLC has its work cut out to find a commercialization partner that can carve out a niche for a drug with moderate efficacy and a common side effect of nausea, but proven cardiovascular safety.

Cycloset is a dopamine D2 receptor agonist. The rationale for targeting the dopaminergic system to improve glycemic control emerged from work done in the 1970s at Louisiana State University, where zoologist Albert Meier observed that white-throated sparrows would essentially become diabetic prior to their annual migration, and return to a non-diabetic state afterward...