The multiple advantages of dulaglutide are highly recognized, and new drugs such as GLP-1 will seize the market

The market structure of diabetes drugs in China is quite different from that in the world. In 2020, the first category in the domestic diabetes drug market is insulin and its analogues, accounting for 45.1%, followed by biguanides and α- Glycosidase inhibitors and other traditional oral diabetes drugs accounted for 13.2% and 12.1% respectively, and the sum of the three categories accounted for more than 70%. Compared with the three major categories of new drugs, namely DPP-4 inhibitors, SGLT-2 inhibitors, and GLP-1 receptor agonists, which occupy half of the market share in foreign countries, China is still in its infancy due to its relatively late entry into the market, with low overall penetration rate and great market potential.

Research shows that SGLT-2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists do not significantly increase the risk of hypoglycemia, can reduce weight, but also have a significant role in reducing the risk of major cardiovascular events. Their status in domestic and foreign guidelines has been rising, and they are gradually becoming one of the standard treatments for type 2 diabetes, and their market penetration will be significantly increased. In addition, GLP-1 long-acting formulations are highly favored due to their better efficacy and compliance. For example, in 2020, sales of Dulaglutide exceeded 5.3 billion US dollars, ranking among the top global hypoglycemic drugs. In the future, long-acting formulations will further seize the market share of short-term formulations.