According to data and analytics company, GlobalData, pharmaceutical sales within the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) markets will soar to $11.5 billion by the year 2026.
Eye treatment
The report, ‘PharmaPoint: Age-Related Macular Degeneration’, reveals that the growth in the AMD market will be driven by new therapies set to enter the sector and a global ageing society that will lead to an increase in the numbers of elderly people developing AMD.
In particular, the analysis predicts the launch of three drugs for the treatment if geographic atrophy (GA), the late stage of dry age-related macular degeneration (dAMD) and three late stage pipeline drugs for wet AMD (wAMD), which will drive the market growth. This is chiefly true for the drug launches in the field of dAMD as there are currently no prescription medicines available for this form of the disease.
“We expect that with the launch of brolucizumab in the wAMD market, Novartis will offset the losses to Eylea and regain dominance in the AMD market,” commented Edit Kovalcsik, PhD, Healthcare Analyst at GlobalData. “Once more efficacy and safety data accumulates and physicians become more accustomed to the use of brolucizumab, its advantage of less frequent dosing will allow it to claim an increasing share and become a first-line therapy if reimbursed.”
On interviewing key opinion leaders in the field, GlobalData highlighted that pricing will also be key in the uptake of brolucizumab from Novartis. This drug is expected to reach blockbuster status by 2021 and will be the highest selling drug by 2026 among all drugs launching to the AMD market, with $4.1 billion in global sales, according to the research.
New drugs entering the dAMD market will include two anti-complement agents: Apellis’ APL-2 and Ophthotech’s Zimura, and one neuroprotective agent, Allergan’s Brimo DDS, which together will drive an increase of the treated AMD cases, expanding the AMD market.
“Following the failure of both Phase III trials of lampalizumab for the treatment of GA, Apellis’ APL-2 emerged as the most promising GA drug after its positive Phase IIa results were announced,” added Kovalcsik. “Provided that the planned Phase III trial of APL-2 for GA will confirm these results, we forecast that Apellis’ drug will reach blockbuster status within a few years of its launch, by 2025.”