Entry of Biogenerics and Decreasing Use of Amgen's Epogen and Johnson & Johnson's Procrit Will Cause a $2.8 Billion Decline in the Drug Market for Chemotherapy-Induced Anemia by 2016

   The new Pharmacor report entitled Managing the Side Effects of Chemotherapy finds that biogeneric erosion combined with emerging safety concerns and an increasingly restrictive reimbursement landscape for erythropoiesis-stimulating proteins will cause the chemotherapy-induced anemia market to decline from $4.5 billion in 2006 to $1.7 billion in 2016. The report also finds that the chemotherapy-induced neutropenia market will decrease $1 billion by 2016 because of the entry of biogeneric versions of Amgen's Neupogen in 2008 in Europe and in 2013 in the United States.

   Sales for the most common side effects of chemotherapy-anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and oral mucositis-totaled more than $8 billion in 2006 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan. According to the report, the market is dominated by therapies that manage anemia and neutropenia effectively for most patients, but considerable opportunity remains for drugs that address thrombocytopenia and oral mucositis, indications characterized by a lack of effective therapies.

   "There will be upheaval in the markets for all five of the indications we looked at," said Ramya Kollipara, Ph.D., analyst at Decision Resources. "The decline in drug-treatment rates and the introduction of biogenerics will substantially constrain the market for anemia therapies through 2016, causing the value of the market to fall by nearly a third. Biogeneric erosion will also have a significant impact on the market for neutropenia therapies, and the introduction of novel emerging therapies will have a dramatic impact on the market for anti-thrombocytopenia agents as well."

   The chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting market will see patent expiries of multiple agents that are thoroughly ingrained in physician treatment algorithms. For oral mucositis, the only available agent, Amgen's Kepivance, is approved only for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients receiving stem cell transplants, but increasing treatment rates and the launch of the first therapy for solid tumor patients will transform the oral mucositis market over the next ten years.

   Keywords: Algorithms, Amgen Inc., Biogenerics, Biotechnology, Biotechnology Business, Biotechnology Company, Chemotherapy, Drug Therapy, Drugs, Epoetin Alfa, Epogen, Erythropoiesis, Hematology, Neutropenia, Oncology, Patents Actions, Pharmaceutical Business, Pharmaceutical Company, Pharmaceuticals, Solid Cancers, Solid Carcinomas, Stem Cell Research, Treatment, Decision Resources.

   This article was prepared by Biotech Business Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Biotech Business Week via NewsRx.com.

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