{"id":17155,"date":"2021-01-20T14:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T14:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/blog\/rethinking-diabetes-drug-discovery\/"},"modified":"2021-01-20T14:00:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T14:00:51","slug":"rethinking-diabetes-drug-discovery","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/fr\/blog\/rethinking-diabetes-drug-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking Diabetes Drug Discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Highlighting<\/a><\/p>\n

The diabetes<\/a> pandemic is a reality which currently affects around 462 million people worldwide, and that number is growing rapidly, estimated to reach more than 700 million by 2045.<\/p>\n

The disease already accounts for a staggering 10% of global health expenditure (USD 760 billion). And with Type 2 diabetes being propelled by modern high-calorie, processed diets and increasingly sedentary lifestyles, this trend is only set to continue.<\/p>\n

We have come a long way in the last 20 years in the treatment of diabetes, due to major advances in our understanding of the molecular pathology of the disease. But how close are we to a cure?<\/p>\n

\"Facts<\/p>\n

There are a number of exciting projects in the pipeline that include stem cell approaches, transforming cells from a patient\u2019s own body into insulin producing cells, and immunotherapy treatments which would prevent the body from destroying the pancreatic beta-cells in the first place. However, these are complex undertakings that will, if successful, still take many years to develop.<\/p>\n

One important solution that is already on the market are \u201cclosed loop systems\u201d which monitor blood glucose levels and inject insulin when required from an external pump through a catheter.<\/p>\n

These systems, which simulate the pancreas, have already made a difference to many lives. However, they are not cheap, and are still tackling challenges around the accuracy of the monitoring as well as the speed of the insulin delivery (which is delivered subcutaneously rather than direct to the bloodstream). In future, the addition of the counterregulatory hormone, glucagon, to the systems may further increase the overall efficacy.<\/p>\n

The biggest progress we have seen over these last two decades has certainly been pharmacological treatment of hyperglycemia (an excess of glucose in the bloodstream), where our increased understanding of the disease has inspired tremendous innovation in the development of modern synthetic insulins which are safer, longer-acting and more effective, as well as new drug classes that target specific metabolic pathways, such as DPP-4 inhibitors, SGLT2 inhibitors, and GLP-1 agonists.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beyond Glycemic Control<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Standard treatment up to this point has focused on insulin replacement for Type 1 and glycemic control for Type 2 diabetics.<\/p>\n

The large range of pharmacotherapies that have become available in recent years for treatment of hyperglycemia mean that, while there is some room for improvement, the industry largely considers this problem to be solved, and less innovation is now going in the direction of improving this factor of glycemic control.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00ab\u00a0There is no longer space in the armamentarium for a single glucose-lowering agent that does nothing but lower glucose.\u00a0\u00bb <\/strong>
\n\u2013 Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen \u2013
\nChief Science Officer at Novo Nordisk<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So where are the next medicines being developed, and what are the un-met medical needs still existing in the area of diabetes?<\/p>\n

Beyond the lowering of hyperglycaemia, some key goals of diabetes therapeutics are:<\/p>\n