Current pharmacologic interventions for type 2 diabetes mellitus include a diverse range of antidiabetic medications with different mechanisms of action including insulin and insulin analogues, sulfonylureas, metformin, meglitinides, thiazolidinediones, inhibitors of alpha- glucosidase, analogs of glucagon-like peptide-1, and synthetic analogues of human amylin. Despite the variety of medications, many have clinically important or potentially life-threatening side effects, restricted use in many subpopulations, concerns with long-term tolerability, and challenges related to compliance due to side effects and route of administration. All of these reasons contribute to the difficulties patients have reaching the target glycosylated hemoglobin level less than 7%.