Huge growth in sales forecast for type 2 diabetes drugs

A new report has revealed that sales of type 2 diabetes drugs in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan and the USA will nearly double over the next decade, soaring from $26 billion (£16bn) in 2011 to nearly $50 billion (£31bn) in 2021.
Decision Resources, the US-based biopharmaceutical insights and analytics firm, predicts that this huge growth will be driven by factors such as an increasing population of drug-treated diabetic patients and the development and release of new products.
According to its report, the dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitor drug class, which includes Merck and Co’s sitagliptin (Januvia), will continue to experience healthy sales and will account for more than a quarter (28 per cent) of all the type 2 diabetes drugs sold in these major markets by 2021.
Strong growth will also be seen in the injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist class of medicines, with sales across the seven countries expected to reach nearly $8 billion (£4.95) by 2021, but sales of PPAR-gamma agonist agents will continue to suffer through 2021 due to ongoing safety issues surrounding both GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia (rosiglitazone) and Takeda’s Actos (pioglitazone).
However, big things are expected of the promising new SGLT-2 inhibitors – particularly AstraZeneca/Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dapagliflozin and Johnson and Johnson’s canagliflozin – which block the normal glucose re-absorption function of the kidneys.
Donny Wong, Decision Resources therapeutic area director, said: “Interviewed thought leaders consider the SGLT-2 inhibitors the most interesting agents that will emerge during the forecast period based on their weight loss efficacy, versatility and low risk of hypoglycaemia. We anticipate that dapagliflozi, the lead compound in this class, will launch in Europe in late 2012.”