Major Depressive Disorder Treatment Market to Decline until 2017, with Growth to Follow

Wednesday 26 November 2014, Amsterdam

The global market for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) therapeutics was valued at $8.7 billion in 2013, and several key patent expiries will cause it to decline at a negative Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4% to $7.4 billion by 2017.

The company’s latest report states that following this decline, new drug launches after 2017 will reinvigorate the market, which will increase at a CAGR of 3.5% to $8.1 billion by 2020.

Arti Singh, Analyst for the new report, explains: “A host of blockbuster drugs, including Abilify and Seroquel XR, which achieved combined sales of more than $6 billion in 2013, are due to expire by 2017. They will be succeeded by the entry of inexpensive generics.

“However, seven new pipeline products are expected to be approved during the forecast period, and Lundbeck/Takeda’s Brintellix, which was launched this year, will lead the market. This is due to the drug’s novel, multimodal mechanism of action and its safety profile, which is comparable to that of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.”

Of the eight major markets (the US, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Japan and Canada), the US will continue to be the leading contributor to the MDD space, despite a decline at a negative CAGR of 0.7% from just over $6.3 billion in 2013 to $6 billion by 2020.

Singh comments: “The US has the largest prevalent population with 18.9 million MDD sufferers in 2013, rising to 21.9 million by 2020. Furthermore, this population will grow the fastest in the US during the forecast period, due to lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors.”

Despite this, the analyst notes that the US’ pharmacological treatment rate is only around 29.5% of the prevalent population.

“The lack of mental health awareness, and the social stigma associated with such conditions, leads to hesitance in seeking psychiatric help. This will continue to be a major barrier to MDD market growth,” Singh concludes.