Diabetes care is focus for innovation

Pharmaceutical companies are exploring new and different ways of enabling people who need to take insulin to control their diabetes, according to a report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

Companies are actively researching delivery methods that include:

• Inhaled insulin powder

• Liquid insulin inhaler system

• Insulin spray, to be delivered as a fine mist to the mouth

• At least two types of oral insulin, using different delivery technologies

• Transdermal patch

'Diabetes has been diagnosed in as many as two million people in the UK, with many more believed to have the condition but not yet diagnosed. While it can be kept relatively stable in the majority of patients, it does require careful attention to regulating the condition, both through lifestyle changes and medication,' said Dr Richard Barker, director general of the ABPI.

'The discomfort of self-injection is thought to deter many people with diabetes from starting insulin treatment that they may need. This has led companies to explore alternative methods of 'delivering' the medicine to patients.'

The report also reveals that more than 50 new compounds to combat the condition are in various stages of development.

The types of medicine under development include new compounds that reduce insulin resistance, others that reduce glucose release into the blood, and a synthetic version of a naturally occurring hormone found in the venom of the Gila monster, a poisonous lizard found in the south-western USA and Mexico.

"The UK-based pharmaceutical industry is putting great effort into finding new and improved answers to both types of diabetes, with large numbers of potential medicines at various stages of development, and there are some exciting prospects for finding alternatives to injections," said Barker.

The new delivery methods that are being researched, together with further details about the condition and the developments in the pipeline, are detailed in a new booklet, Target Diabetes, published by the ABPI.

Two clear priorities are identified for the coming years: preventing the development of new cases of type 2 diabetes; and managing both forms of diabetes as well and cost-effectively as possible, in order to prevent or delay the development of complications.

Target Diabetes points out that the economic and health costs of diabetes are enormous and escalating. "The pharmaceutical industry has a key role to play developing innovative and effective new treatments for diabetes - the future will see how we can all benefit from these efforts," the report says.