The market for multiple myeloma drugs in the US, Europe and Japan will more than double from $2.1bn in 2008 to $5.3bn in 2018, according to a new report from Decision Resources.
The report indicates that market growth in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and Japan will be driven by increased use of Celgene‘s Revlimid and the launches of several premium-priced therapies, including Celgene’s pomalidomide and Onyx Pharmaceuticals’ carfilzomib.
Decision Resources’ analyst Andrew Merron said that Carfilzomib and pomalidomide are the most promising emerging therapies in development, owing to their efficacy and tolerability.
“Carfilzomib and pomalidomide will compete with Velcade and Revlimid, respectively, although they will struggle to attain the same market share as these well-established agents,” Merron said.
The Pharmacor 2010 report also indicates that as the multiple myeloma market becomes increasingly saturated with effective treatments, drug opportunities lie in the development of agents that improve survival and reduce toxicities.
Through 2018, Decision Resources expects six emerging therapies to partially fulfill these unmet needs. In addition to pomalidomide and carfilzomib, these are Keryx Biopharmaceuticals / AEterna Zentaris’ perifosine, Merck’s Zolinza, Novartis‘s panobinostat and bendamustine (Cephalon’s Treanda, Mundipharma’s Ribomustin).
