D (NAPSA}There could be good i news for the nearly 26 million people in the United States affected by diabetes: America’s biopharmaceutical research companies are currently developing 221 innovative new medicines to helptreat diabetes. Diabetes Facts And Figures Today in America, one in 10 adults have diabetes and, if cur- rent trends continue, as many as one in three could develop thedis- ease by 2050, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diabetes rates are expected to rise sharplyfor a vari- ety of reasons, including an aging population that is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, as well as increases in minority groups at high risk for the disease and longerlife spans among diabetes patients. If left untreated, dia- betes can lead to severe health America’s researchers have medicines in the pipeline that could mean an ex ig new chapter in the quest to bettertreat diabetes. What May Lie Ahead A once-daily medicine that selectively inhibits the protein asso- ciated with glucose metabolism. A medicine designed to inhibit an enzyme linked to dia- etic neuropathy. *A medicineto treat type 2 dia- as heart disease, stroke, vision betes that may allow for onceweekly dosing. The innovative medicines now disease with far-reaching implica- problems and complications, such loss and amputation. “Diabetes is a serious chronic being developed—all either in tions for American patients, famiclinical trials or being reviewed by lies, our health care system and the U.S. Food and Drug Adminis- tration (FDA)—include32 for type 1 diabetes, 130 for type 2 and 64 our economy,” said PhRMAPresident and CEO John J. Castellani. “However, diabetes can be con- for diabetes-related conditions, trolled throughlifestyle interven- by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America tions can also manage and slow according to a new reportreleased (PhRMA). In recent years, the FDA approved six new classes of type 2 diabetes medicines, giving patients and their doctors powerful new tools to treat the disease. Working with private-sector, university and government researchers, America’s biopharmaceutical research companies continue to explore many different approaches to battle diabetes. tions, and treatment with medica- the disease. The medicines in the pipeline represent an excit- ing new chapter in the ongoing quest to better treat this debil- itating disease.” Learn More You can see the report at http://phrma.org/sites/default/files /1869/diabetes2012.pdf and get further facts from the National Institute of Diabetes and Diges- tive and Kidney Diseases at www 2.niddk.nih.gov/.
