Worldwide, 285 million people have diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Foundation that number will rise to 438 million by the year 2030, an increase of 7 million per year. That exponential growth can be attributed to our sedentary lifestyle, obesity and poor eating habits. In Belgium, one in twenty adults has diabetes. In 85% of the cases it concerns type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the greatest public health challenges for years to come. Prevention and treatment are indeed of great importance for public health and healthcare budgets.

Belgium has an estimated 600,000 people diagnosed with diabetes. But it is likely that there are at least as many who have not yet been diagnosed.

A few years ago Bristol-Myers Squibb partnered with AstraZeneca to develop new treatments and be able to better assist this continuously growing group of patients. Recently this Alliance launched the first component of its promising diabetes pipeline onto the Belgian market, and a second component, the first of a new class, is currently under development.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease characterized by an insufficient production of insulin and/or decreased cell sensitivity to insulin's effect (insulin resistance).

Type 2 diabetes is also called “adult-onset diabetes” and takes, in contrast to Type 1 diabetes, a very dormant course. At the time the diagnosis is made, many people already exhibit complications (retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy ....).

Diabetes is incurable. The purpose of the treatment is to keep blood sugar levels as normal as possible, like in people without diabetes, to reduce and/or slow down the incidence of complications. The better blood sugar is controlled, the better people with diabetes tend to feel.

Type 2 diabetes, a stepwise treatment

When type 2 diabetes can no longer be properly controlled by diet and/or exercise, oral antidiabetics (OADs) are added as monotherapy or in combination therapy.

In a second phase, when tablets are no longer sufficient for good glycaemic control, a switch should be made to insulin or other injectable forms.