(Washington, D.C.) Pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies with headquarters or facilities in North Carolina are researching and developing 416 medicines to treat diabetes and closely related conditions, HIV/AIDS and medical disorders that affect women and children. 

The four most recent surveys on medicines in development published by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) show North Carolina companies are working on:

•    65 medicines for diabetes and related conditions.
•    28 drugs for HIV/AIDS.
•    74 medications for the special health needs of pediatric patients.
•    272 treatments for the diseases and medical conditions that disproportionately affect women and diseases that affect only females.

“For years, North Carolina has been a key center for cutting-edge pharmaceutical research and development,” said PhRMA Senior Vice President Jeffrey A. Bond.  “And as PhRMA’s most recent innovation surveys show, that trend is clearly continuing today.  For women, companies in North Carolina are developing a wide range of treatments, including medicines for Alzheimer’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 diabetes, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, depression, prevention of migraine headaches, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), septic shock, anemia, cancer of the breast, cervix and fallopian tubes, multiple sclerosis and an overactive bladder.”

Other medicines for women being developed by North Carolina companies, including the firms in and around Research Triangle Park, include treatments for hot flashes, preterm labor during pregnancy, fibromyalgia, systemic lupus, psoriasis, glaucoma, dry eyes and irritable bowel syndrome.

Medicines in development for Alzheimer’s disease are important to women because in 2006, they accounted for more than 70 percent of the Alzheimer’s deaths in America.  “It’s also crucial that medicines are being developed for both types of diabetes,” Bond said.  “In 2007, 11.5 million American women – more than 1 out of 10 females 20 and older – had diabetes.  The total number of diabetics, including children, that year in America was 23.6 million.  And with the American Diabetes Association estimating that at least 1.6 million new cases get diagnosed every year, the number of Americans with the diseases could be close to 30 million by the end of this year.”

Bond stressed that the medicines being created for the Type 2 condition “will help the most people – Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all cases of this debilitating, life-threatening disease.”

Nearly 60 percent of the nation’s osteoarthritis patients are women and almost twice as many women as men suffer from depression.  Women suffer from asthma at a 36 percent higher rate and women are three times more likely to have migraine headaches.  “Studies show there may be a connection between migraines and fluctuations in estrogen levels in women,’ Bond said.

New drugs are also potentially important to women suffering the effects of COPD.  The American Thoracic Society says women with that disease fare worse than men both in terms of the severity of their disease and the quality of their life.  More than three million Americans have anemia, with women and patients with chronic diseases at the greatest risk of developing it.

For children, North Carolina companies are working on new medicines for asthma, cystic fibrosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), HIV infection, bipolar disorder, influenza, migraine headaches, herpes simplex virus, inherited metabolic disorders and several other pediatric conditions.  Researchers at the state’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms are also developing vaccines to prevent meningitis, influenza and the H1N1 flu in children.

Medicines are being developed for both widespread diseases and rare conditions – nearly nine million American children have asthma, but only slightly more than 30,000 pediatric patients and young adults in America suffer from cystic fibrosis (CF).  “We need our researchers to focus on both,” said Bond.  “And if CF is any indication, our companies are tackling both big diseases and those that affect small patient populations.  It is noteworthy that due to drug therapy advances, CF patients today are living longer, more comfortable lives.”

ADHD, another focus of North Carolina biopharmaceutical companies, is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood.  The National Institute of Mental Health says that though there is no cure for this condition, new treatments can relieve many of the symptoms.  With treatment, most people with ADHD can be successful in school and lead constructive lives.

Medicines for pediatric HIV infection are important because, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children in the U.S. under the age of 13 accounted for about 10,000 cases of HIV in 2006.  An additional 56,500 between the ages of 13 and 24 were also infected.  More than 5,300 children under the age of 13 had died of AIDS.

In addition to developing more than 400 medicines for diabetics, HIV/AIDS patients, women and children, North Carolina companies are helping uninsured and financially struggling patients, including children, obtain their medicines.  The companies are among the biopharmaceutical firms that sponsor the nationwide Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA), a single point of access to more than 475 programs that provide free or nearly free medicines to patients in need.  Nearly 200 of the programs are sponsored by the drug companies themselves.

So far, the five-year-old PPA has helped more than 6.5 million Americans, including about a quarter of a million North Carolinians, find programs that might help them.  Patients contacting the PPA can call the toll-free number (1-888-477-2669) or access the Web site (www.pparx.org).  Operators manning the toll-free number call centers speak 150 languages, including Spanish.

The PPA also offers information on more than 10,000 free health care clinics around the country and more than 40 of the assistance programs address the health needs of children.

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.