Merck’s Janumet - The New Boon for Diabetics

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Janumet, the new drug for treating type 2 diabetes. Its manufacturer Merck is expected to corner a bigger share of the diabetes treatment market.

Janumet would be available in pharmacy stores from the end of this month. It combines the properties of Merck’s Januvia that was approved in the US last year and that of an older drug, metformin.

Diabetes is a debilitating condition where the body is unable to produce or produces too little of the hormone, insulin. Insulin is essential for controlling the level of sugar circulating in the blood. It plays a major role in converting glucose into glucagons thereby maintaining blood sugar levels within the normal range. With inadequate amounts of insulin, the glucose levels could shoot up resulting in metabolic disturbances. Chronic, untreated diabetes could lead to secondary conditions like diabetic retinopathy or nephropathy.

There are two varieties of diabetes: type-1 and type-2. The former is a genetically associated category of diabetes and occurs as an inherited disorder. It usually requires treatment with lifelong insulin. In type-2 diabetes, the islets of Langerhans that produce insulin are damaged or a combination of poor diet and lifestyle habits could aggravate it.

According to International Diabetes Foundation, an estimated 246 million people are currently living with diabetes. The market for diabetes medication holds immense potential and a number of drug makers have hit a gold mine with the generic drug, metformin that commands nearly 35% prescription.

Researchers and market watchers are hopeful Janumet would be successful as a collateral drug. Merck is hopeful Januvia and Janumet would garner in excess of $2 billion in combined annual sales by the year 2010. Januvia aids in increased production of insulin by the body and metformin regulates the processing so as to avoid condition of too much insulin leading to potentially fatal, hypoglycemia or low sugar.

Januvia is way ahead of competition as a significant add-on therapy and is used in combination with metformin. Market analysts guess Janumet could overtake Januvia because the combined agent drug is much superior to the single-agent pill.

As an echo of the approval announcement, Merck’s shares gained 44 cents or 1.7 per cent to close at $44.91 at the New York Stock Exchange.