Drug developments to drive European cardiovascular market
Patent expiries and increased generic competition in the cardiovascular drug market mean that to maintain growth, new drug areas and classes will require exploration.
Patent expiries and increased generic competition in the cardiovascular drug market mean that to maintain growth, new drug areas and classes will require exploration.
While key unmet needs offer growth opportunities, strategies centred on combination therapies, adding value through drug delivery technologies and clinical differentiation, will help overcome competition from generic drug manufacturers, says a new market study by consulting company Frost & Sullivan.
The European cardiovascular drugs market earned revenues of US$27.5bn in 2005, and is estimated this to reach $36.3bn in 2012. 'New emerging therapeutic classes of drugs provide future growth prospects for the European cardiovascular drugs market,' says Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Paljit Mudhar. 'Many new cardiovascular drugs will certainly come from major pharmaceutical companies even as several small biotechnology or biopharmaceutical companies engaged in cardiovascular drugs development demonstrate promising pipelines with novel drugs.'
The market has witnessed new classes of drugs for hypertension and the development of anti-platelet and anti-clotting agents, all of which have had a major impact in treating heart attacks. New drug classes such as endopeptidase/endothelin antagonists, vasopressin-2 inhibitors, brain natriuretic peptide-targeted molecules and free radical scavengers have emerged.
'Cardiovascular drug sales can account for nearly half of a company's annual revenues in some cases,' said. Mudhar. 'While moderate impact in terms of the value of revenue lost to generics was felt in 2005, this factor will impact the market more significantly in the medium term, meaning that revenue growth for several of the leading pharmaceutical companies will come under considerable pressure.'
Many pharmaceutical companies use drug delivery technologies to extend the exclusivity of patented drugs by developing an enhanced version with therapeutic benefits such as improved efficacy, dosing frequency or new therapeutic indications.