Innovative first-in-class products comprise 30% of diabetes complications pipeline

New targets need to be identified and converted into improved therapeutic options, particularly in order to develop therapies more aligned with the underlying disease pathophysiology, says GBI Research.

According to the company’s latest report — Frontier Pharma: Diabetic Complications - Innovative and Diverse Neuropathies, Nephropathy and Retinopathies Pipelines Demonstrate Shift Towards Disease Modifying Therapies — the market for diabetic complications is predominantly composed of therapies that symptomatically treat the condition and, at best, slow disease progression. However, as the understanding of disease pathophysiology increases, new targets need to be identified and converted into improved therapeutic options, particularly in order to develop therapies that are more aligned with the underlying disease pathophysiology.

Firas Nour, Associate Analyst for GBI Research, states that: “Although many first-in-class products fail to make an impact on the market even upon successful regulatory approval, higher-risk programs for innovative first-in-class products remain attractive and have led to some of the most clinically and commercially successful products of the past decade, including Avastin (bevacizumab) for diabetic macular edema and Rituxan (rituximab) for diabetic neuropathy.”

GBI Research has found that 31.7% of products in the entire metabolic pipeline are first-in-class, which means that diabetic neuropathies have a below-average proportion of first-in-class pipeline products. In the diabetic retinopathies segment, however, there is substantial innovation in the early pipeline, which offers signs that a greater proportion of first-in-class products will filter through to Phase III in the future.

Deal activity within the diabetic complications market varies with first-in-class status. Strategic consolidations have played an important role in developing therapeutics for diabetic complications in the past decade, with 81 licensing deals and 36 co-development deals having taken place since 2006.

Nour continues: “The deals in diabetic complications revealed that licensing deals did not reflect the industry-wide trend of first-in-class deals being more valuable. Co-development deals, meanwhile, were representative of the overall picture of the complications pipeline, reflecting the shift towards therapies that are more aligned with the underlying disease pathophysiology.”