Nearly 200 new medicines in development for diabetes by US drugmakers

The USA’s biopharmaceutical research companies are currently developing 180 innovative new medicines to help the nearly 400 million people who have diabetes worldwide.

These medicines in development – all either in clinical trials or under review by the Food and Drug Administration – include 30 for type 1 diabetes, 100 for type 2 and 52 for diabetes-related conditions, according to a new report by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

In the USA, nearly 26 million patients are affected by diabetes. The disease is one of the leading killers of Americans and the epidemic is quickly escalating. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of diabetes among US adults grew by 45% over the past 20 years. Today, one in 10 American adults has diabetes and as many as one in three could face the disease by 2050 if the current trends continue.