Market Snapshot

Market Snapshot: The ulcerative colitis market looks set to experience strong pricing pressure over the next three to five years, with leading players losing exclusivity for their drugs and a flood of novel entrants set to hit the market.

The value of the COVID-19 market reached more than $8bn in the first quarter, fuelled by mRNA-based vaccines, but the future growth of the sector depends on the rather unpredictable course of the pandemic, and the response of healthcare providers and countries.

Market Snapshot: Acute myeloid leukemia is a serious condition that affects people mainly in late middle age, for which there is a large R&D pipeline of candidate products being researched by pharmaceutical and biotech companies, many of whom are using a targeted medicine approach.

Market Snapshot: Gilead’s Biktarvy and ViiV’s two-drug regimens are expected to dominate the HIV market over the next few years as market exclusivity losses loom, but drugs with new mechanisms of action, and longer-acting products, might influence market dynamics.   

The market for novel preventive and acute treatments grew from three anti-CGRP antibodies at the start of 2020 to four biologics and two oral drugs against CGRP plus a small molecule 5-HT1F inhibitor. 

Lilly, Allergan and Biohaven plan to launch oral drugs for on-demand treatment of migraine attacks in the first quarter, hoping to harness a large market where new preventive therapies are already competing for patients.

Aimovig, Emgality and Ajovy have been on the market for more than a year, but are still far from blockbusters even though millions of patients are eligible for treatment – and at least one new competitor is coming.

The introduction of gene therapies has been the highest-profile new modality to reach the market, but new RNA-based therapeutics hold significant potential and could be more accessible for patients. Scrip reviews the leading drug developers in this space.

Three new drugs for sickle cell disease could be on the market in the US next year, representing a groundswell of advancement for the devastating blood disorder that has had limited options.

Combination studies of drugs for ovarian cancer have heavy focus on PARP, PD-1/L1 and VEGF mechanisms.

AstraZeneca's Lynparza, Tesaro's Zejula and Clovis' Rubraca have brought much needed advances to patients with ovarian cancer, but the market is relatively small and the competition intense, while unmet need remains high.

Despite several new entrants to the multiple myeloma market, Datamonitor Healthcare forecasts that drug sales between 2017 and 2026 will peak in 2022 when Revlimid generics hit the market. J&J's Darzalex will become the new best-seller, but generate a fraction of Revlimid's sales.