We all know diabetes is growing. What this translates to is that the pharmaceutical industry is scrambling to fill the ever-growing demand for diabetes drugs. What exactly does this mean for you?
As reported by Bloomberg News, it means that over the next 10 years you will most likely see almost no advancement in the type or quality of the type 2 diabetes drugs currently on the market today.
To be sure, there are many new drugs in the pipeline. Unfortunately, they are termed “me too” drugs. This means these new drugs do essentially the same thing that existing drugs on the market do.
What you will see though is a huge increase in the competition amongst drug companies for your prescription dollar. Many of the leading drug companies are starting to ramp up marketing campaigns directly to consumers and doctors to try and expand market share.
For example, Novo Nordisk expanded its sales force by 25 percent, just last year. In response to losing market share to Novo, Merck allocated more of its sales force to marketing its diabetes line of products.
The good news? Some companies, such as Eli Lilly, are looking at creating combination drugs that take the advantages of different types of type 2 medications and combining them into a superior prescription medication.
I don’t know about you, but it would be nice if some of this marketing and drug development capital was allocated to finding a cure!
To get a clear view on where the type 2 diabetes drug market is going, check out Bloomberg.com.