Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK), Illumina, Inc. (ILMN), GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (GSK): The U.S.’s Deadliest Diseases

3. Chronic lower respiratory disease
Around 140,000 Americans die each year from chronic lower respiratory disease, primarily due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Smoking is the key risk factor for COPD, causing as much as 90% of COPD deaths.

Unfortunately, chronic lower respiratory disease stands out as the only one of the top three deadliest diseases in the U.S. that saw an increase in age-related death rates in the most recent CDC data. However, cigarette smoking trends continue to drop for both adults and students. This could portend a better outlook in the future in the battle against this disease.

Another promising sign comes from the development of effective treatments for COPD. GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK) and Theravance Inc (NASDAQ:THRX) obtained FDA approval just days ago for a new COPD drug called Breo. Even more hope hinges on another drug potentially on the way from the two companies — Anoro. The FDA set a decision date of Dec. 18 for the drug. If approved, Anoro would become the first treatment to combine a long-acting muscarinic antagonist and a long-acting beta-2 agonist.

Doing good
Not only are all of the companies mentioned doing good by helping fight America’s deadliest diseases, they’re also doing well for investors. Theravance Inc (NASDAQ:THRX) and Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) rank as the best-performing stocks of the group, with one-year gains of 90% and 58%, respectively. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shares jumped more than 30% in the past year, with Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock rising by 22%. GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK) lagged behind, but still recorded a respectable 15% gain during the period.

There are many other companies, universities, and government researchers who are also hard at work to find new ideas for tackling these challenging diseases. Hopefully, we will soon reach the point where the good news outweighs the bad.

The article The 3 Deadliest Diseases in the U.S. originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Keith Speights.

Fool contributor Keith Speights has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Illumina.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.