Blockbuster Drugs Generated $166 Billion in Sales in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Accounting for 30% of the Market

Dublin (PRWEB) February 6, 2006 -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c32163) has announced the addition of Blockbuster Drugs: A 2005-2014 Forecast to their offering.

Blockbuster drugs--drugs with annual sales topping $1 billion--accounted for approximately 30% of the pharmaceutical industry's total sales in 2004. In the next several years, patent expiries on many blockbusters will fundamentally alter the sales outlook for leading pharmaceutical companies. What strategies will companies pursue to replace sales lost to generics competition? Pursuit of new blockbusters is one approach, though the shift taking place in the therapeutic areas ripe for blockbuster development means that some companies must adjust their core competencies.

In this report, Decision Resources identify drugs that we believe will achieve blockbuster status during a 2005-2014 forecast period, presenting them by therapeutic area and describing each drug's mechanism of action, performance in clinical trials, strengths and weaknesses, and competitive opportunities and threats. We also point to other drugs that are contenders for blockbuster status.

Summary
How much did blockbuster products contribute to overall pharmaceutical sales in 2004, and which therapeutic categories accounted for the bulk of sales?
Blockbuster drugs (i.e., agents with annual sales of more than $1 billion) generated worldwide sales of approximately $166 billion in 2004, or about 30% of the pharmaceutical industry's total sales in 2004. The bulk of blockbuster sales reflects use of agents that treat diseases and risk factors that are highly prevalent and typically drug-treated in industrialized nations: dyslipidemia, depression, pain, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and asthma. Other leading blockbusters treat diseases and conditions that are less common but for various reasons (e.g., high levels of unmet clinical need, exceptional manufacturing costs for biopharmaceuticals) sustain high unit pricing. The principal diseases and conditions targeted by these blockbusters are rheumatoid arthritis, psychotic disorders, and the haematological side effects of chemotherapy.

Which drugs now in late-stage development (or recently launched) will be the leading blockbusters during the next decade?
In the next several years, patent expiries on many blockbusters will fundamentally alter the sales outlook for leading pharmaceutical companies. Some of these companies are looking to brand extension strategies (e.g., offering combination therapies, making incremental modifications to current blockbusters) in an effort to replace sales expected to be lost to generic competition. Increasingly, however, blockbusters will target diseases that continue to have substantial unmet clinical need. Among the most important agents fitting this profile are Genentech's Avastin (bevacizumab) for various cancers, Neurochem's Alzhemed/Cerebril for Alzheimer's disease, Merck and Novartis's oral dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitors (sitagliptin and vildagliptin, respectively) for type 2 diabetes, and Sanofi-Aventis's Acomplia (rimonabant) for obesity.

Which early-stage stage drugs have the potential to be future blockbusters?
A new class of triple-reuptake inhibitors (TRIs) is poised to capture some of the antidepressant sales being lost to generics, and GlaxoSmithKline has teamed with NeuroSearch to develop a TRI (NS-2359) still in Phase II. If Phase III trials show superiority— particularly with regard to side effects—compared with existing agents, peak-year sales are likely to reach $3 billion. Bayer's rivaroxaban, an oral anticoagulant in development for patients with atrial fibrillation, may be the first such drug to reach the market since warfarin, and the only one not requiring frequent blood monitoring. If Phase III data are positive, we forecast peak-year sales in the range of $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c32163

Laura Wood
Senior Manager
Research and Markets
Fax: +353 1 4100 980

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