Russia’s type 2 diabetes drug market will grow more than 7% annually from $1.2 billion in 2010 to $1.7 billion in 2015, driven by a glut of new products that are about to be launched.

That is the latest market forecast from Decision Resources which argues that growth will be driven by the introduction of "several premium-priced agents" and the increasing use of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogues, dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP-IV) inhibitors and insulin analogue mixes. The report notes that there are a number of drugs in the type 2 diabetes pipeline, with 14 agents expected to launch in Russia by 2015.

These include two agents in a novel class of sodium glucose cotransporter (SGLT)-2 inhibitors, Bristol-Myers Squibb/AstraZeneca’s dapagliflozin and Johnson & Johnson’s canagliflozin. DR adds that increasing use of both rapid- and long-acting branded insulin analogues is aided by the government reimbursement policy in Russia, which covers the premium-priced long-acting insulin analogues.

DR analyst Natalia Reoutova noted that increasing use of DPP-4 inhibitors and GLP-1 analogues will also lead to greater spending on antidiabetic agents in Russia.  Most of the increase for the newer, more expensive non-insulin drug classes is likely to come from the more-affluent working patients who pay for their treatment out of pocket, "as these drugs are not currently reimbursed", she concluded.