The $35 billion race to cure a silent killer that affects 30 million Americans

Modern Medicine 

Sun, December 30, 2018 7:39 AM 

In the U.S. 30 million Americans suffer from a form of fatty liver disease that turns into a form of liver cirrhosis that leads to death unless a patient can receive a liver transplant. Now drug companies are spending billions to help find a cure.

The $35 billion race to cure a silent killer that affects 30 million Americans

Lori Ioannou

The race is on in the pharmaceutical industry to develop drugs to treat a form of fatty liver disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, also known as NASH.

Industry experts estimate the global market for these new drugs is $35 billion.

The U.S. is spending $5 billion annually in health-care costs related to the disease, which include chemotherapy, transplants, tests and hospitalizations, reports the Center for Disease Analysis.

The National Institutes of Health estimates as many as 12 percent of U.S. adults have this disease, or 30 million people.

Read More: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/21/the-35-billion-race-for-a-cure-for-a-liver-disease-that-affects-millions.html