Innovation in Diabetes Management
As one of the most prevalent health conditions of our time, diabetes represents 11% of total health spend, approximately $880 billion globally.
While many clinically efficacious diabetes medications exist, challenges remain. The most effective diabetes disease management is multi-disciplinary and includes lifestyle modifications around diet and exercise (patient management), in addition to compliance with medication regimens (disease treatment). The responsibility to manage all these elements falls to patients and caregivers.
Support programs provided by established pharmaceutical companies help to improve adherence, and wellness apps focused on fitness, diet, and lifestyle management serve as useful albeit therapeutically limited tools (see our article on The mHealth Opportunity).
Solutions that support therapy optimization, alongside patient self-management and adherence, remain ripe for innovation.
To understand how treatment dynamics will evolve, Luminous analyzed the start-up companies and the associated investment activity in the space. This is what we found (refer to the graphic below).
Unsurprisingly, capital is largely focused on Patient Management solutions (Medical Devices, Behavior Modification, and Patient Care) accounting for 86% of the funds invested and 89% of the companies.
Within Patient Management, Medical Devices and Behavior Modification account for 75% of the investments and 65% of the companies.
Disease Treatment solutions (Cell Therapy, Pharmaceuticals) have received only 14% of the funding over 11% of the companies. In particular, the limited number of Pharmaceuticals start-ups (2% of funding and 4% of companies) underscores how much this category remains within the realm of big pharma.
In terms of geographical distribution, 65% of start-ups and 90% of the capital invested are in the US and EU. And while start-ups in the US and EU are well-funded, on average, US companies receive 2.3x more funds than those in the EU ($73.70 million vs. $31.15 million).
Overall, Cell Therapy and Behavior Modification are the best-funded categories (each 1.9x the average for all categories, $47.75 million).
This focus on new-to-the-world solutions in both medical and behavioral treatment signals a new phase in diabetes treatment.
As these innovations come to market, how will treatment mindsets and behaviors change? How will the role of behavioral versus medical therapy be impacted? What can the established pharmaceutical companies do to be part of this innovation?
By putting the Spotlight on patients, Luminous can help you navigate this new phase in chronic disease management.