Bristol-Myers, AstraZeneca Receive FDA Approval For Diabetes Drug.
The AP (11/5) reported, “Drug makers Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and AstraZeneca PLC said Friday that they received US marketing approval for a once-a-day diabetes drug that combines the starter diabetes drug metformin with the companies’ newer drug Onglyza.” The Food and Drug Administration “approved Kombiglyze XR as a treatment for type 2 diabetes in adults.” Kombiglyze is “intended for use along with diet and exercise and has not been studied as a treatment for type 1 diabetes or in combination with insulin, the companies said.”
        Bloomberg News (11/5, Randall) reported, “Bristol-Myers, based in New York, and London-based AstraZeneca have been working together on diabetes drugs since January 2007.” Approximately “24 million Americans have the condition, which occurs when people don’t have enough insulin, limiting their ability to convert blood sugar to energy.” Onglyza “competes with Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based Merck & Co.’s Januvia in a category of medicines called DPP-4 inhibitors that spur the pancreas to make more insulin and cause the liver to produce less glucose.” The Wall Street Journal /Dow Jones Newswire (11/5) and MedPage Today (11/5) also reported the story.

Technorati Tags: diet, exercise, type ii diabetes

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Global research and advisory firm Decision Resources has predicted that the Chinese type 2 diabetes market will grow from $1.4 billion in 2009 to $2.5 billion in 2014. According to the Emerging Markets report entitled Type 2 Diabetes in China, this growth is attributed to an increasing drug-treated population, expanding medical insurance coverage and the launch and adoption of new drugs in the market.

“China now has the largest type 2 diabetes patient population in the world, and is the third largest market for type 2 diabetes agents, behind the United States and Japan,” said Decision Resources Analyst Jing Wu, M.S., M.B.A. “The type 2 diabetes market in China will continue to grow between 2009 and 2014 at an annual rate of 13 percent, which is faster than expected growth in the US or Japan.”

The report also finds that rising sales from newly launched Western-branded products will offset the generic erosion from older agents. The launches of three dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-IV) inhibitors—Merck’s Januvia, Novartis’s Galvus and Bristol-Myers Squibb/AstraZeneca’s Onglyza—and two glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogues—Novo Nordisk’s Victoza and Eli Lilly/Amylin/Alkerme’s Bydureon—between 2009 and 2014 will result in more than $270 million combined sales from these two drug classes in 2014.

“Increasing economic power in China and improvements in health insurance coverage has resulted in increased access to healthcare and the ability to afford expensive Western-branded drugs,” said Wu. “While metformin will continue to be the most widely prescribed agent in China because of its low cost and long-term physician familiarity, newly launched DPP-IV inhibitors and GLP-1 agonists will be used more frequently in the second or third line. The use of more Western brands will contribute to the expansion of the type 2 diabetes market in China.”

The new report features extensive primary research of Chinese endocrinologists in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Wuhan as well as epidemiology data.

Technorati Tags: china, health, type 2 diabetes

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