Asthma | Pharmacor | Pharmacor | G7 | 2014
The asthma market has historically been one of the most lucrative drug markets in the pharmaceutical industry owing to a large and growing patient population. However, generic and/or branded-generic price erosion, increased product competition, and an increasingly difficult pricing and reimbursement environment will stabilize the asthma market over the forecast period despite opportunities for growth. The uptake of the first once-daily long-acting beta2 agonist (LABA)/inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) fixed-dose combination (vilanterol/fluticasone furoate [GlaxoSmithKline’s Breo/Relvar]), the introduction of the first anticholinergic in asthma due to the label extension of a leading chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder agent (tiotropium [Boehringer Ingelheim/Pfizer’s Spiriva]) to asthma, and the launches of five novel anticytokine therapies within the next ten years will offset the market constraints. Despite the high number of effective asthma therapies for mild to moderate asthma cases, considerable opportunity still exists for the development of new agents that target the heterogeneous population of asthma patients who experience severe symptoms and who are resistant to LABA/ICS combination therapies. Any emerging therapy that serves even a small fraction of this underserved segment of the asthma market will have considerable sales potential.
