Last Updated 16 December 2015
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common chronic neurodegenerative diseases in the elderly; its prevalence is expected to grow 2% annually in the major pharmaceutical markets. The market for PD pharmacotherapies features a high rate of polypharmacy that is unique among neurological disorders, driven by the need to simultaneously manage the primary motor symptoms and associated nonmotor symptoms of the disease, as well as the common complications associated with chronic treatment with levodopa (Merck/Bristol-Myers Squibb/DuPont Pharma’s Sinemet, Sinemet CR, other brands, generics), the long-standing foundation of PD treatment. A growing population, high drug-treatment rates, a high rate of polypharmacy, a complex symptomology, and several key areas of unmet need combine to make the PD market one of significant commercial opportunity for therapeutic advances. Based on the active and diverse late-stage pipeline—which includes innovative reformulations, novel adjuncts to levodopa, agents for key nonmotor symptoms (e.g., psychosis), and new and improved rescue therapies—we forecast continued growth of the PD pharmaceutical market over the next decade.