Diabetes medications: websites and online resources

On-line Medication Resources

• Drugs.com is a new Internet drug information resource. You have to register, but it's free. Drugs.com gets its main database and Care Guide information from Micromedex, a part of the global Thomson Health Care Information group. The Drug Interactions information comes from Multum Information Services, a company that specializes in solutions to the growing problem of adverse drug events. A pharmacist at Drugs.com tells me that the site contains about 24,000 drug names. It unfortunately has an interface that makes entering more than a few items tedious. The URL is
  http://www.drugs.com/

   

• Drugstore.com has an excellent and easy-to-use drug interaction tool, albeit one that is hard to find. The URL is Drug Interactions

   

• The Express Scripts “Check Interactions” site is http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/Interaction/ChooseDrugs/1,4109,,00.html.

   

• Another drug interaction site is Discovery Health’s “Drug Interaction Checker.” The URL of this tool is http://health.discovery.com/encyclopedias/checker/checker.jsp.

   

• The Diabetes Monitor: Medications has many links to Web sites about diabetes medications. The URL is
  http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/other-05.htm

   

• RxList - The Internet Drug Index is a free, searchable database of more than 4,500 prescription and over-the-counter medications. The search engine uses fuzzy logic, so you can often find a drug even when you misspell its name. The URL is
  http://www.rxlist.com/

   

• Healthtouch® Drug Information enables you to find information about more than 10,000 prescription and over-the-counter medications. You can enter either the generic or brand name of the drug, but you have to spell it correctly. While it includes more drugs than RxList, the information it provides is less detailed. The URL is
  http://www.healthtouch.com/level1/p_dri.htm

   

• Johns Hopkins IntelliHealth lets you search its U. S. Pharmacopeia database for drug information. The URL is
  http://www.intelihealth.com/email/drugs

Other Resources

NovoMedLink Diabetes Patient Care has diabetes patient care information and resources for health care professionals. The URL is
http://www.novomedlink.com/diabetes/

An excellent (albeit not completely up to date) website about forthcoming drugs is maintained by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (the trade or lobbying group) at
http://www.phrma.org/newmedicines/

World-wide sales of oral diabetes medications reached $7.8 billion in 2003, according to analysts from SG Cowen Securities Corporation, a U.S. securities and investment banking firm focused on the emerging growth sectors of health care and other markets. This includes glitazones, $3.6 billion; sulfonylureas, $1.0 billion, and other, $3.7 billion (meanwhile insulin sales totalled $4.7 billion). They reported this at a March 2004 investment conference in Boston last week, according to Kelly Close in Diabetes Close Up, V3, #6 March 17, 2004. Her website is http://www.closeconcerns.com.

Please also refer to my article in the September 2000 issue of Diabetes Wellness Letter, "Smart Drugs: Are We Ready For Them?" This article is online at http://www.mendosa.com/starlix.htm.

The May 1998 issue of Diabetes Wellness Letter, included another article about new hypoglycemic agents, "Beyond Sulfonylureas: The New Drugs for Blood Glucose Control." This article is online at http://www.mendosa.com/newdrugs.htm

Good sources for additional information about several of these drugs are PharmInfoNet, Medications, http://www.pharmacytimes.com/diabetesce.html, and Oral Diabetes Medication Information.

The Geriatric Drug Review: Diabetes by Alan Lukazewski, Registered Pharmacist and Certified Diabetes Educator, is a valuable resource for anyone over 50 who has diabetes. This is probably the most important Web page about diabetes on AgeNet, which provides resources for older adults and caregivers. The site also has an "Ask a Pharmacist" area where visitors can e-mail a pharmacist and Certified Diabetes Educator about drugs specific to the aging population. The URL is
http://www.agenet.com/drug_review_diabetes.html

Clinical Trials

The current costs of bringing a new medicine to market are estimated to be as high as $0.8 to 1.7 billion.

The The Food and Drug Administration says that of 100 drugs for which developers submit investigational new drug applications are submitted to it, about 70 will successfully complete phase 1 trials and go on to phase 2. About 33 of the original 100 will complete phase 2 and go to phase 3. And 25 to 30 of the original 100 will clear phase 3. Therefore, on average, about 20 of the original 100 will ultimately be approved for marketing.

There has been an explosion of Web sites matching patients with manufacturers who are testing proposed drugs in clinical trials. I wrote about some of them for my ADA column "About the Internet" in May 2000 at: http://www.mendosa.com/clinicaltrials.htm, but there are now several more:

• Acurian Inc. in Horsham, Pennsylvania, lists hundreds of clinicial trials for diabetes. Much of that information, according to the site, is licensed from CenterWatch (see below). The URL is
  http://www.acurian.com/index.jsp

   

• Diabetes Clinical Trials is an Aventis Pharmaceuticals site for their drugs. The URL is
  https://clinicaltrials.aventis-us.com/ct/

   

• Bari 2D, the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI) 2 Diabetes, is a program to study whether, in patients with type 2 diabetes, initial treatment with angioplasty or bypass surgery is better than initial treatment with a medical program. At the same time, BARI 2D will compare two approaches to control blood sugar: providing insulin stimulating medication or providing medication that sensitizes the body to the available insulin. The URL is
  http://www.bari2d.org/

   

• CenterWatch in Boston, Massachusetts, was probably the first clinical trials site and still one of the largest. When searched most recently, this site showed 466 trials in progress for types 1 and 2 diabetes, but many are duplicates at different places. The URL is
  http://www.centerwatch.com.

   

• ClinicalTrials.com in Severna Park, Maryland, offers information for current clinical trials being conducted nationwide, with the opportunity for volunteers to register for current and future study information. In addition, it organizes contact information for more than 20,000 health agencies and support groups in more than 1,500 cities. When searched most recently, this site showed about 120 trials in progress for types 1 and 2 diabetes, but many are duplicates at different places. The URL is
  http://www.clinicaltrials.com/.

   

• ClinicalTrials.gov is a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. This site currently contains studies sponsored primarily by the National Institutes of Health, but additional studies from other Federal agencies and the pharmaceutical industry will be included soon. When searched most recently, this site showed 106 studies of diabetes, some of which are not yet recruiting. The URL is
  http://clinicaltrials.gov.

   

• ICSL Clinical Studies in Providence, Rhode Island, is a medical research organization that works with pharmaceutical companies to search for safe and effective medications for a wide range of diseases, including diabetes. Presently, ICSL Clinical Studies has approximately 50 research facilities throughout the United States, nearly 30 of which have detailed profiles on the company's Web site. The company is currently conducting 14 different diabetes studies at multiple research locations nationwide. ICSL Clinical Studies' professionals can be contacted directly via the Web site about participation in a currently enrolling study. The URL is
  http://www.icsltd.net/clinicalstudies

   

• Lilly has begun recruiting patients for Phase III clinical trials of lidorestat, a correspondent reports on August 27, 2002. "Interestingly, it was not on the list of clinical trials on Lilly's own website," he writes. "But neuropathic diabetics can call Lilly's toll-free number to be pre-screened and to find out if a medical center or doctor near them is participating." The number to call is (800) 545-5979.

   

• Radiant Research in Kirkland, Washington, conducts Phase 1 to 4 clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. "One of our more developed therapeutic specialities is in the area of diabetes research," writes Jeff Jensen, the company's regional ops director. "Currently, Radiant Research is enrolling patients into 31 separate diabetes trials." The URL is
  http://www.radiantresearch.com/

   

• GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. It is conducting a long-term research study to compare the effects of three FDA-approved medications on types 1 and 2 diabetes. The URL is
  http://www.newdiabetes.com.

   

• TheHealthExchange in Stamford, Connecticut, is dedicated to connecting people with clinical trials. When searched most recently, this site showed about 50 trials in progress for diabetes. The URL is
  thehealthexchange.org.

   

• Veritas Medicine in Cambridge, Massachusetts, provides extensive original content from physicians at hospitals affiliated with Harvard and Tufts universities to help patients choose appropriate clinical trials in which to participate. When searched most recently, this site listed 35 drugs in development for diabetes, but unlike other clinical trials sites it contains extensive information about each drug, including its drug class, approval status, side effects, the pharmaceutical company(ies) marketing it, additional information, and reference articles. The URL is
  http://www.veritasmedicine.com.

  The double-blind placebo-controlled trial is one of the major scientific advances of the 20th century, with consequences of a magnitude greater than is generally understood. Dr. Steven Bratman writes clearly and fully on this important subject and authorizes me to make it available here. The URL is http://www.mendosa.com/bratman.htm.