Immunology market to see strong growth, despite patent expiries

The global immunology market, which covers autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, lupus, and ankylosing spondylitis, is set to rise from $57.7 billion in 2015 to $75.4 billion by 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate of almost 4%.

According to business intelligence provider GBI Research’s latest report, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs – a highly genericized class of systematic small molecule-based agents – are used in the first-line treatment of immunological disorders. However, as these therapies often fail to elicit an adequate long-term response, a large second-line therapy segment has emerged in these markets, which began with the approval of Remicade (infliximab) and Enbrel (etanercept) in 1998. This segment consists largely of premium systemic monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), which have been highly commercially successful over the past decade.

Qaisrah Khalid, an analyst for GBI Research, explains: “Although the patents for many of these MAbs have either already expired or are due to expire during the forecast period, the market is expected to experience continued growth due to practical and regulatory barriers to entry for biosimilars that are not present for small molecule generics, and a moderately strong late-stage pipeline.”