Abstract
Two modern-day epidemics, HIV–AIDS and type 2 diabetes mellitus, have inspired impassioned calls for more effective interventions. In the 1980s, the rapid spread of HIV, with its associated severe, acute illness and high mortality, prompted activist groups and others to call for the accelerated approval of medications that showed promise of efficacy. There was no treatment available, and people were dying quickly. More recently, pressure to develop new drugs for type 2 diabetes has been stimulated by the remarkable worldwide increase in the incidence of this disease (54% in the past 7 years in the United States1) and the . . .