EvaluatePharma, which analyzes pharmaceuticals and biotech companies, said oncology, or cancer treatment, will be the fastest growing therapy area with an expected annual growth of 12.7 percent and sales reaching $192.2 billion in 2022.

Demand for immuno-oncology drugs is growing, and pharmaceutical companies are pushing out promising new compounds that are likely to keep the oncology market number one ahead of the anti-diabetics, anti-rheumatics, and antivirals market, it said in a report released Tuesday.

Source: EvaluatePharma

According to EvaluatePharma’s report titled “World Preview 2017, Outlook to 2022,” Keytruda (Merck & Co), Revlimid (Celgene) and Opdivo (Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.) will drive the growth in the oncology market. Sales from AstraZeneca’s soon-to-be-launched Imfinzi and Incyte’s epacadostat are expected to counter losses caused by biosimilars in the market.

As for companies, Roche will remain as the market leader, although Evaluate said its market share would decrease from 28.2 percent to 14.5 percent by 2022 (14 percent decrease). Roche’s loss in market share is attributable to the emergence of biosimilars eroding sales on its critical biological products such as Avastin ($9.3 billion in annual sales), Herceptin ($7.8 billion annual sales) and Rituxan ($5.8 billion annual sales). The Swiss giant will also face increasing competition from the development of next-generation cancer drugs.

Celgene is eyeing the number one position in the market, and the report forecasts an increase in its worldwide sales will rise from about $10 billion to $19 billion, an 11 percent growth in compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Its sales-driving product, Revlimid, is expected to see a 13-percent CAGR increase and dominate the oncology market share, taking up 7 percent of the entire market.

Source: EvaluatePharma

Meanwhile, Merck & Co is gaining momentum with its anti-PD-1 drug, Keytruda, and will secure its position in the list of top 10 companies regarding total worldwide oncology sales in 2022. The report estimates that its sales will reach $9.8 billion in 2022 with a 34 percent CAGR.

Novartis, on the other hand, has fallen from the podium, taking the sixth place on the list of total worldwide oncology sales in 2022. Novartis had been slow to move into anticancer treatments over the past decade which has cost it massive losses in sales as competitors have cashed in on PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitor drugs.

Source: EvaluatePharma

Overall, the report forecasts stricter utilization management and tightening price controls, as patients are calling for lower drug costs for expensive anticancer treatments.

yjc@docdocdoc.co.kr

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