Biosimilars and Generics to Slow Rheumatology Therapeutics Market Growth

Friday 8 February 2013, Amsterdam

Despite healthy sales of key medications and the positive market impact of an expanding geriatric population, growth in the global rheumatology therapeutics market is expected to slow in the near future due to the entry of biosimilars, states the latest report from healthcare analysts.

The new report predicts the market to climb from a 2011 value of US$17.1 billion to US$23.8 billion by 2018, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.8% – almost half of the 2005-2011 CAGR of 9.4%.

We put the more modest growth rate down to the expiration of several biologics patents and the emergence of less expensive biosimilar alternatives.

Pfizer’s Celebrex, a major drug in the Osteoarthritis (OA) market, posted sales of US$2.5 billion in the fiscal year ending 2011, showing an increase of 6% from the previous year. Equally, gout treatment Uloric will reach annual revenues of US$890m-US$1.4 billion by 2014, according to producers Teijin Pharma.However, both of these blockbuster drugs will go off patent in 2014, leaving the market open to generic competitors.

In contrast, tofacitinib, a first-in-class oral Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drug (DMARD) intended for Rheumatoid Arthritis, will make a positive impact on rheumatology market revenues following its expected debut in 2013.

Due in part to the rise of biosimilars within the market, the Annual Cost of Therapy (ACT) growth rate is expected to fall. During 2005-2011 the average global ACT climbed from US$212 to US$303, at a CAGR of 6.1%, but between the period 2011-2018, the CAGR is expected to drop to a far more modest 1.2%.