New research finds physicians seek more novel diabetes drugs

WALTHAM, Mass. More than 70% of physicians see a need for more novel diabetes drugs, compared with 15% who want to see more drugs belonging to the DPP-IV class, according to a survey released Thursday.

Healthcare market research firm Decision Resources said physicians in both groups surveyed for the report, titled Brand Perceptions in Noninsulin Antidiabetics, favored drugs with a strong ability to lower glucose, citing the ability to reduce HbA1c levels by 2% as a particularly important attribute.

"Physicians we surveyed also tell us that they prefer an agent with an excellent safety profile, which is not surprising given the cardiovascular safety concerns associated with GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate) and the more recent pancreatitis association with both Amylin [and] Eli Lilly’s Byetta (exenatide) and Merck’s Januvia (sitagliptin)," Decision Resources analyst Nicole Westphal said in a statement. "For surveyed Type 2 diabetes patients, an emerging therapy with disease-modifying potential … is also highly desireable."

The report also identified segments of physicians and Type 2 diabetes patients that used different criteria to make treatment decisions. For example, young, urban and weight-conscious specialists favored Byetta and would likely drive adoption of such new GLP-1 analogues as Novo Nordisk and Scios’s Victoza (liraglutide) and Byetta LAR, by Lilly, Amylin and Alkermes.