The new medicines currently in the pipeline, some in early development stages and some awaiting FDA approval, include numerous drugs to treat eye diseases associated with diabetes. New medicines to treat foot ulcers could reduce the need for amputations. Researchers are pushing into new territories that include gene therapy and are working on such treatments as a once-weekly medication similar to a natural hormone critical to blood sugar regulation.

Johnson noted that diabetes not only causes great suffering, but also extracts a heavy economic cost. In West Virginia alone, diabetes costs nearly a billion dollars a year in medical treatment and lost productivity.

Of the medicines listed in the report, 36 have been or will be part of clinical trials conducted in West Virginia. Patients are currently being recruited for clinical trials in Lewisburg, Burnsville and Charleston. Details can be found at www.clinicaltrials.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures.

PhRMA members alone invested an estimated $45.8 billion in 2009 in discovering and developing new medicines. Industry-wide research and investment reached a record $65.3 billion in 2009.

SOURCE Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America