Global Antipsychotics Market Is Expected To Decline Due To Patent Expiries of Major Drugs

Monday 20 February 2012, Amsterdam

The report examines the global bipolar disorder and schizophrenia treatment usage patterns. In addition, geographical distribution of the antipsychotic market across the US, the top five countries of Europe and in Japan is provided. The report also includes insights into the antipsychotics R&D product pipeline and explores the competitive landscape including major players in the antipsychotics market. Finally, the report also includes an analysis on the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and licensing agreements that have recently taken place in the antipsychotics market.

Global Antipsychotics Market Is Expected To Decline Due To Patent Expiries of Major Drugs

Antipsychotic drugs remain the standard care for the treatment of mental disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The global antipsychotic market for such treatments is made up of 70% schizophrenia therapeutics and 30% bipolar disorder therapeutics.

The global antipsychotics market has shown a rising trend from 2002, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.8% to reach $14 billion in 2010. Newer agents (atypical antipsychotics) such as AstraZeneca’s Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate), Eli Lilly’s Zyprexa (olanzapine), Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Abilify (aripiprazole), Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) Risperdal (risperidone) and Pfizer’s Geodon (ziprasidone HCl) were rapidly adopted during this period due to their better efficacy when compared with typical antipsychotics and these drugs achieved blockbuster status.

See figure: Antipsychotics Market, Global, Revenue Forecast ($bn), 2002, 2010 and 2017

However, the patent expiries of the leading antipsychotics such as Zyprexa, Abilify, Geodon, and Seroquel in the forecast period, followed by the immediate entry of generic versions are expected to increase price competition in the global antipsychotics market and so may limit the commercial opportunities to pipeline molecules. As a result the global antipsychotics market is expected to decline at a CAGR of 0.4% from $14 billion in 2010 to $13.8 billion in 2017.

Upcoming Patent Expiries Followed By Generic Erosion Will Lead to Price Competition in the Schizophrenia Therapeutics Market

The schizophrenia therapeutics market is highly competitive with many typical and atypical antipsychotics contributing to the market. The atypical antipsychotics are the more preferred drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia due to their better safety and efficacy profile.

The global schizophrenia therapeutics market generated revenues of about $9.9 billion in 2010 growing at a CAGR of 4.5% from $7 billion in 2002. This market is expected to witness price competition in the forecast period due to the series of patent expiries of major drugs such as Zyprexa (2011), Geodon (2012), Abilify (2015) and Saphris (2015). The launch of Latuda (lurasidone) has increased the burden of competition in an already highly competitive antipsychotics market in the US. The product pipeline of antipsychotics is comprised of many new molecules at various stages of clinical development. The expected launch of late stage molecules and the anticipated entry of generic drugs are expected to increase competition in the antipsychotics market in the future. The schizophrenia therapeutics market is estimated to declin at a CAGR of 0.4% from 2010 to 2017.

The US Was the Leading Contributor to the Global Antipsychotics Market In 2010

The US was the major contributor to the antipsychotics market in 2010 with a share of 58%.It was followed by the top five countries of Europe and Japan which accounted for 30% and 12% respectively. The high prevalence rates of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders among the growing geriatric population, comparatively better disease awareness and treatment seeking rate are some of primary reasons that made the US the leading contributor of the antipsychotics market in 2010. However, the trend towards use of generics, reimbursement issues, patent expirations, safety issues and a reduction in inventive product launches have worsened the economic slowdown of this sector in the US. The generic drug segment is expected to see rapid growth due to the patent expiry of major antipsychotics which may result in limited commercial opportunities for pipeline molecules.