Op-ed: Demand for treatment for type 1 and type 2 diabetes has never been higher

Demand for treatment for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes has never been higher than it is today, yet the growth of the market has not improved access for people who rely on essential products like insulin.

In this op-ed for PharmaBoardroom, Jayasree gives context to the current diabetes care supply chain, drawing from the 2024 Access to Medicine Index. She highlights that only three companies (Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, and Sanofi) control most of the global insulin supply, yet register their essential analogue insulins in only a few low-income countries.

Additionally, Jayasree notes the popularity and profitability of GLP-1 drugs and how the pharmaceutical industry’s prioritisation of these products is diverting resources away from production of essential insulin supplies, already disrupting access in countries including India, Indonesia and South Africa.

Jayasree also highlights positive developments coming from within the industry, such as access plans and other company initiatives, but notes that according to the 2024 Access to Medicine Index, these programmes address just 1 percent of the combined type 1 and type 2 diabetes burden across the 113 LMICs covered in scope.

She asserts that improving access will require coordinated, long-term action across the healthcare ecosystem, including both the public and private sectors.

“The industry has the tools, the expertise and the scale to unlock access for millions of underserved patients. Current geopolitical challenges should not be allowed to thwart well-made plans to expand access for people who are dying needlessly,” Jayasree writes. “The choices made now will decide whether insulin and future diabetes innovations continue as privileges for the few or finally deliver on the promise unlocked a century ago to help the whole world.”