Diabetes Drug Failures

Major manufacturers of diabetes drugs faced major market setbacks as a result of diabetes drugs that were discontinued (Avandia, Actos, Exubera, etc.).

The inhaled insulin product, Exubera, was discontinued in the third quarter of 2007 as a result of lacklustre sales… and Pfizer took a $2.8 billion charge. During the same quarter, GlaxoSmithKline’s sales of Avandia declined 38% because of growing concerns over heart failure risks.

Diabetes and obesity rates just keep climbing at an alarming pace. On November 5, 2007 the United Health Foundation reported that a quarter of the people in the United States is obese, compared with less than half that figure, or 11.6% in 1990.

And according to Medco Health Solutions, a benefit management company, diabetes drugs were one of the biggest drivers of health-care costs in 2006, as overall diabetes treatments increased 5.1%. From 2001 to 2006 the number of people with Type II diabetes climbed 16.9%.

The oral diabetes treatment market is currently at $5 billion annually.