Decade Looks Unpromising for Laryngeal Cancer Therapeutics Market, Study Finds

Monday 12 March 2012, Amsterdam

Clinicians treating patients for laryngeal cancer should not expect to see any significant changes in the treatment offered for the disease during the current decade due to a lack of interest from pharmaceutical companies, a new report by healthcare intelligence provider.

Laryngeal cancer has been strongly linked to tobacco and alcohol abuse, the latter of which is increasing on a global scale. Despite this, the laryngeal cancer drug pipeline consists of only 17 molecules, of which only four are in the later stages of development.

The laryngeal cancer market is currently dominated by generics and off-label chemotherapy drugs. The launch of new drugs Taxotere and Erbitux – of which only Erbitux is patent protected – in the last five years provided the market with a foundation for steady growth. However, these drugs often cause serious side effects such as neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, anemia, leucopenia and infections.

The generic erosion of Taxotere, which lost its patent in 2010, and the respective patent expiry of Erbitux in 2014 and 2017 in Europe and the US should clear the way for other drugs to enter the market. Despite this, the therapeutics product pipeline remains weak, with academic institutions or universities sponsoring all the Phase III molecules currently in development. This not only lowers the probability that any of them will be launched in this decade, but also indicates a lack of interest from pharmaceutical companies in developing new drugs to fight the disease.

Further disappointment came for patients and clinicians alike in August last year, when Amgen announced that panitumumab had failed to meet its primary endpoint in a Phase III head and neck cancer clinical study.

The report estimates that the value of the largest seven laryngeal cancer therapeutics markets worldwide – the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Japan – reached US$128.1 million in 2011. The industry analysis provider has forecast that this will further grow at a CAGR of 3.4% to reach US$166.9 million by 2019, providing opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to gain market share.

Laryngeal Cancer Therapeutics - Pipeline Assessment and Market Forecasts to 2019

The report is an essential source of intelligence on laryngeal cancer therapeutics, providing analysis on the key trends shaping and driving the global market. The report also provides insights on the prevalent competitive landscape and the emerging players expected to significantly alter the market positioning of the current market leaders. Most importantly, the report provides valuable insights on the pipeline products within the sector.