Medicines in Development for Diabetes

Diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate in America. Each day, approximately 4,110 people are diagnosed with diabetes. To help fight this potentially devastating disease, America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are working on 235 new medicines to treat diabetes and related conditions. All of the medicines in this report are either in clinical trials or awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

 

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), diabetes affects more than 20 million Americans—about 8 percent of the U.S. population—and a third are unaware they have the disease. Unfortunately, the rate of new cases and the death rate due to diabetes has been rising. The rate of new cases rose by more than 90 percent among adults over the last 10 years, according to a 2008 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 1987, the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent, even as death rates due to heart disease, stroke, and cancer have declined.

 

With the stakes this high, America’s pharmaceutical companies are committed to developing new medicines to treat diabetes.

 

According to the ADA, most Americans with diabetes have type 2, in which relative insulin deficiency combines with the body failing to properly use insulin. Between 5 percent and 10 percent of Americans with diabetes have type 1, in which the body fails to produce insulin.

 

Diabetes is associated with an increased risk for a number of serious, sometimes life-threatening, complications. These include heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease, amputations, dental disease, complications of pregnancy, and sexual dysfunction. For example, adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about two to four times higher than adults without diabetes.

 

While lifestyle changes such as weight loss combined with moderate physical activity can reduce the risk for developing type 2 diabetes, medicines have been critical to improving and lengthening the lives of those suffering from it.

 

The new medicines in development include:

 

While diabetes remains a formidable foe, America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are continuing their efforts to develop novel and more effective therapies to contain the disease and increase patients’ quality of life.