Johnson & Johnson Could Tap The Huge Diabetes Market

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diabetesglucoseFrom Your Health Journal…..”A great article in Forbes entitled Johnson & Johnson Could Tap The Huge Diabetes Market With New Drug Approval. We all know that type 2 diabetes is on the rise and is caused in many cases by obesity (lack of exercise, poor diet). Sadly, many children now have this disease, which many years ago used to be called adult onset diabetes. Now, there may be some relief in site, as Johnson & Johnson’s potential experimental drug, Canagliflozin, is expected to receive FDA approval by the end of the month. The type 2 diabetes drug had earlier shown strong efficacy in reducing blood sugar in diabetics, even as some safety concerns were also raised. While the potential of the drug is much higher, currently we expect the drug to achieve over $1 billion in expected peak sales. Below we take a detailed look at the drug’s prospects. This is very good news to many, and it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Please support the Forbes web site (link provided below) to read the complete article.”

From the article…..

Johnson & Johnson has been battling with patent cliffs like many in the industry, but it still is in a better position than many of its peers. Its patent protection on Concerta and Levaquin expired in 2011, while Invega lost patent exclusivity in 2012. All of these patent expirations put nearly $1.5 billion of revenues at risk. However, March could bring some relief to the healthcare company as its blockbuster potential experimental drug, Canagliflozin, is expected to receive FDA approval by the end of the month. After this, the European Medicines Agency approval should not be far away.

The type 2 diabetes drug had earlier shown strong efficacy in reducing blood sugar in diabetics, even as some safety concerns were also raised. While the potential of the drug is much higher, currently we expect the drug to achieve over $1 billion in expected peak sales. Below we take a detailed look at the drug’s prospects.

Market Opportunity

With obesity on the rise, diabetes is affecting more people everyday globally. In the U.S. alone, roughly 26 million people suffer from the condition. Owing to these factors, the global diabetes drug market has seen rapid growth rate in the last couple of years. The type 2 diabetes drug market, which constitutes a significant chunk of the total diabetes drug market, is expected to grow from $26 billion in 2011 to $50 billion in 2021, in developed markets including the U.S., Japan and Europe.

While the market is crowded with several major drugs available for the condition, the fact that the disease is often associated with several other disorders such as cardiovascular events, kidney impairment etc., it limits its target patient population. This presents an opportunity for new drug compositions like Canagliflozin. Canagliflozin is a member of a new class of diabetes drugs known as sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors that lower blood sugar by blocking the re-absorption of glucose by the kidney and increases the excretion of glucose in urine.

To read the complete article…..Click here