Obamacare to Strengthen US Dominance of Global Epilepsy Market

Thursday 7 February 2013, Amsterdam

President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) will be an important factor in driving up the value of the US epilepsy pharmaceuticals market, predicts a new report from research and consultin. The company’s latest publication* forecasts the US epilepsy market to climb from a value of US$2 billion in 2012 to US$2.8 billion by the end of 2022 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.4%. The increase will see the US claim more than half of the global market during this period, increasing its share from 49% to 52%. Under the current US healthcare coverage scenario, there is a treatment gap of 10% which accounts for almost 200,000 epilepsy patients at any given time. The individual mandate of the ACA, to be implemented in 2014, is predicted to increase health insurance coverage and improve access to doctors, resulting in greater treatment and prescription rates.
We also believes the entrance of new Anti-Epilepsy Drugs (AED) with distinctly different Mechanisms of Action (MOA) will prove the key driver for epilepsy pharmaceutical sales in the near future. Medications such as Potiga and Fycompa, both of which have recently received FDA approval, are generating interest among patients and physicians alike, thanks to first-in-class novel MOAs. Both drugs are expected to be priced at a premium when compared to other AEDs on the market, and their adoption and continued use over the next decade will be a major industry revenue generator. According to the new report, the global epilepsy market is expected to grow from a value of US$4.2 billion in 2012 to US$5.5 billion 10 years later, demonstrating a CAGR of 2.8%.