In some respects, the diabetes market is reaching a state of satisfaction. Glucose meters have reached a level of sophistication which satisfies most market needs, and the same is true of insulin pumps. The main remaining product innovation opportunities in the devices sector are the development of truly noninvasive glucose metering instruments, and the development of an automatic closed-loop system linking glucose metering with insulin administration: the “artificial pancreas.” This latter development will eventually drive significant, perhaps dramatic, growth in the devices sector but this is not likely to happen in less than 3–5 years. In the pharmaceutical sector, a number of insulin analogs are now available which go far to satisfy the market’s needs. New classes of oral antidiabetic drugs continue to be developed but several of the older classes are still widely used.
Source: “Diabetes Management: Products, Technologies, Markets and Opportunities Worldwide 2009-2018,” Report #D510.
Until the goal of managing diabetes more thoroughly and holistically by tackling the underlying genetic and immunological causal mechanisms, growth in this market is likely to be driven mainly by the increasing prevalence of both main types of diabetes, especially in the developed world, with incremental growth resulting from the introduction of improved versions of current drugs and devices. Consequently, this report estimates an annual growth rate around 12% in the diabetes market over the next eight years. Major technological and/or scientific breakthroughs could, of course, make it necessary to revise this forecast.
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