Scientific background

Type 2 Diabetes: a global epidemy

90% of diabetic patients in the world suffer from type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes (also known as non¬-insulin dependent diabetes) is defined primarily by a failure of sensitive tissue to respond to insulin, a hormone involved in glucose and fatty acids metabolism with a secondary effect in insulin secretion. In 2007, more than 220 million people suffered from type 2 diabetes worldwide, including over 65 million patients in the US and Europe. Existing therapies on the market are dominated by few dominant product classes, but significant unmet needs remain.

Type 2 diabetes is a silent disease, associated with severe vascular complications. Those complications affect large arteries, leading to cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease or peripheral artery thrombosis. The affect as well as small arteries damaging mainly the kidney, the retina and the nerves. The latest lead to chronic renal failure (50% of cases), vision loss up to blindness and neuropathy, affecting mainly sensitivity in the legs (65% of cases). Because the disease is associated with no or very limited symptoms, around 30% of diabetic patients remain undiagnosed, thus untreated.