Preventing Aging and Age-Related Diseases -A New Era for Drug Repurposing

摘要

As life expectancy continues to increase around the world, healthy aging is increasingly an area of research focus for the pharmaceutical industry. Aging in good health and adding years that are free of disease and disability to one's lifetime are important both for individuals and for society as a whole. As a result, repurposing drugs to delay aging and age-related disease is increasingly becoming a source of medical innovation. One example of age-related medical innovation is the life cycle management of metformin, an API that was approved in 1995 as an antihyperglycemic drug in type 2 diabetes patients. The incidence of type 2 diabetes, closely related to aging and obesity, continues to grow to this day, as do the costs of diabetes treatment. In 2017, the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes cases in the United States was $327B, an increase of 26% from 2012 [American Diabetes Association 2018], Driven by reformulations, metformin has grown in significance as a frontline treatment for type 2 diabetes. Glucophage (metformin hydrochloride) and its immediate line extension Glucophage XR achieved blockbuster status with $2.3B in sales in 2002 just prior to its patent expiration, and since the original patent expirations there have been numerous NDA 505(b)(1), (b)(2) and ANDA filings using metformin.