Obesity and Diabetes

Halsa’s lead therapeutic compound, ZAG, will tackle the global problems of the metabolic diseases obesity and diabetes, and has patented applications in several others.

►Obesity

►Diabetes

►Insulin Resistance

►Metabolic Syndrome

Obesity

Obesity Epidemic

• More than 1/3 of U.S. Adults (100 million) are obese

• Since 1980, Obesity rates for adults have doubled and for children have tripled

• Un-Met Medical Need

• Highly Underserved Market Opportunity

Economic Impact

• Between 1987 and 2001, diseases associated with obesity accounted for 27% of the increases in healthcare costs (source CDC)

• Bariatric Surgeries have grown from near zero to $5B in the five years ending in 2004

Obesity Therapeutic

An effective weight loss pharmaceutical can garner in excess of $20 Billion in annual revenue.

It is dangerous to be obese. Obesity and overweight is the second largest avoidable cause of preventable death in the United States, following cigarette smoking. A middle-aged man who is 40% above his desirable weight is 55% more likely to die than if he were at a healthy weight. Besides the risk of death, obesity is highly correlated with many other diseases such as Type II diabetes, cancer, gallstones, coronary heart disease, respiratory disorders, sleep apnea, osteo-arthritis, kidney and cardiovascular disease.

It is expensive to be obese. Health economists calculate the overall health care costs of obesity in the United States to be in excess of $150 billion per year with direct health care costs exceeding $75 billion per year, and the balance of this cost due to the loss of productivity because of deceased or diseased individuals. Additional voluntary spending exceeds $75 billion annually.

Diabetes

According to the most recent estimates diabetes remains the 5th leading cause of death in the United States. People with diabetes are at higher risk for heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, extremity amputations and other chronic conditions.

Prevalence of Diabetes in the United States (all ages)

Prevalence of Diabetes in Texas (2001)
Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death in Texas

Incidence of Diabetes

Costs of Diabetes (2002)  Total $132 Billion (Direct and Indirect Costs):

 Source

Texas Diabetes Institute

American Association of Diabetes Educators
American Diabetes Association
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Health Collaborative
Texas Diabetes Council

Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body produces insulin but does not use it properly. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps the body use glucose for energy. Glucose is a form of sugar that is the body’s main source of energy.

The body’s digestive system breaks food down into glucose, which then travels in the bloodstream to cells throughout the body. Glucose in the blood is called blood glucose, also known as blood sugar. As the blood glucose level rises after a meal, the pancreas releases insulin to help cells take in and use the glucose.

When people are insulin resistant, their muscle, fat, and liver cells do not respond properly to insulin. As a result, their bodies need more insulin to help glucose enter cells. The pancreas tries to keep up with this increased demand for insulin by producing more. Eventually, the pancreas fails to keep up with the body’s need for insulin. Excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream, setting the stage for diabetes. Many people with insulin resistance have high levels of both glucose and insulin circulating in their blood at the same time.

Metabolic Syndrome

The metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors in one person. They include:

• Abdominal obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen)

• Atherogenic dyslipidemia (blood fat disorders — high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol — that foster plaque buildups in artery walls)

• Elevated blood pressure

• Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance (the body can’t properly use insulin or blood sugar)

• Prothrombotic state (e.g., high fibrinogen or plasminogen activator inhibitor–1 in the blood)

• Proinflammatory state (e.g., elevated C-reactive protein in the blood)

People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease and other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls (e.g., stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and type 2 diabetes. The metabolic syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States. It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans have it.

The dominant underlying risk factors for this syndrome appear to be abdominal obesity and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a generalized metabolic disorder, in which the body can’t use insulin efficiently. This is why the metabolic syndrome is also called the insulin resistance syndrome.