Lilly and China's NCCD announce collaboration to advance scientific understanding and care for people living with diabetes and cardiovascular disease

BEIJING and INDIANAPOLIS, April 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and China's National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases (NCCD) announced plans to collaborate across four strategic initiatives to advance the scientific understanding of type 2 diabetes and related complications, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), and improve care for people living with the condition.

In China, the number of people with diabetes has increased from more than 1 percent of the population in 1980 to nearly 11 percent in 2017.^[i] The sharp increase in diabetes, including type 2 diabetes, has resulted in increased complications, such as CVD. In addition, rates of pre-diabetes continue to climb across the globe, including in China, where more than 1 in 3 people have pre-diabetes. Less than one-third of people with diabetes receive treatment.^[i]

As a response to this national epidemic, the collaboration will:

• Evaluate the health economic consequences of diabetes in China.
• Develop a simple cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk calculator to improve screening and diabetes management at the primary care level.
• Analyze patient samples to identify new biomarkers for diabetes progression, diabetic kidney diseases (DKD), and CVD.
• Develop and distribute medical education for health care professionals treating diabetes related CVD in China.

To learn more about how these goals will be achieved, watch this video.

"As the number of people living with diabetes continues to grow rapidly throughout China, it is imperative that we address the human and economic impact of the condition," said Prof Lixin Jiang, Vice President of Fuwai Hospital, Assistant Director of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases. "Diabetes often leads to complications, including cardiovascular disease. By advancing our understanding of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, we have an opportunity to significantly improve care for people in China." 

By 2045, the number of people living with diabetes is expected to rise to 629 million worldwide, with type 2 diabetes being the most common form, accounting for around 90 percent of all cases.^[ii] Due to complications associated with diabetes, CVD is a major complication and the leading cause of death associated with diabetes.^[iii],[iv] Approximately 50 percent of deaths in people with type 2 diabetes worldwide are caused by CVD.^[v],[vi]

The collaboration will leverage data collected by the Patient-centered Evaluative Assessment of Cardiac Events (PEACE) Million Persons Project, which is the first large-scale epidemiological screening in China. The PEACE Million Persons Project will provide access to data from more than 1 million people with type 2 diabetes and increased CVD risk.

"We are grateful to the NCCD for their willingness to collaborate with us on initiatives that will advance our understanding of these complex diseases," said Robert Heine, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Lilly Scholar. "Our hope is this collaboration will produce learning and tools that will benefit people living with type 2 diabetes in China and elsewhere around the world."

About Diabetes
An estimated 425 million adults worldwide have diabetes.^[ii] Type 2 diabetes is the most common form, accounting for around 90 percent of all cases.^[ii] Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the body does not properly produce or use the hormone insulin.

About the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases
NCCD, set up as a national prevention platform for cardiovascular disease in 2009, aims to organize and carry out the national prevention and research. NCCD advocates more partners implementing the national prevention strategy. For more information, visit www.nccd.org.cn

About Lilly Diabetes
Lilly has been a global leader in diabetes care since 1923, when we introduced the world's first commercial insulin. Today, we are building upon this heritage by working to meet the diverse needs of people with diabetes and those who care for them. Through research and collaboration, a wide range of therapies, and a continued determination to provide real solutions?from medicines to support programs and more?we strive to make life better for all those affected by diabetes around the world. For more information, visit www.lillydiabetes.com.

About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at www.lilly.com and http://newsroom.lilly.com/social-channels. P-LLY

i Wang L, Gao P, Zhang M, et al. Prevalence and ethnic pattern of diabetes and pre-diabetes in China in 2013. JAMA 2017;317:2515?2523 
ii International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 8th edn, 2017. Available at: http://www.diabetesatlas.org/. November 2017. 
iii World Health Organisation. Diabetes: Fact Sheet no. 312. Available at: www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/#. Last accessed March 2018. 
iv World Heart Federation. Diabetes as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease. Available at: www.world-heart-federation.org/cardiovascular-health/cardiovascular-disease-risk-factors/diabetes. Last accessed March 2018 
v Nwaneri C, et al. Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Magnitude of the Evidence from a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. The British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease 2013;13:192?207. 
vi Morrish NJ, et al. Mortality and Causes of Death in the WHO Multinational Study of Vascular Disease in Diabetes. Diabetologia 2001;44(2):S14?21. 

Refer to:                    Grant Smith; [email protected]; +1 (317) 954-9907 (Lilly) 
                                  Chao Xing; [email protected]; +(086)010-60866731 (NCCD)

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company