Type 2 diabetes treatment market to hit 10.5 billion USD in Asia-Pacific

The type 2 diabetes market for treatments is predicted to rise in value to $10.5bn in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region by 2020.
Of the four major APAC counties – China, India, Japan and Australia – the fastest expansion will be seen in China, according to business intelligence provider GBI Research.
Their latest report predicts the type 2 diabetes treatment market will grow by $4bn as treatment improves to support the increase rate of type 2 diabetes in these regions. The figure in 2013 stood at $6.5bn.
New drug classes
The introduction of several new drug classes has been linked to the increasing figure, with GLP-1 agonists, SGLT-2 inhibitors and DPP-4 inhibitors set to compliment the favoured combination of metformin and sulfonylureas.
With these drugs expected to be costly, market growth is set to be impacted, but Arti Singh, analyst for GBI Research, insists there is still some uncertainty regarding these new drugs.
“If these late-stage pipeline drugs fail to show consistently strong efficacy profiles across Phase III trials, or are found to have a slight chance of causing a serious adverse event, such as cancer, their commercial potential will be severely reduced,” said Singh.
If the new classes of drugs fail to prove they are worth more that metformin and sulfonylureas, then the rate of novel drugs entering the type 2 diabetes market could be reduced.