Lost sales could reach $32 billion by 2022 as cancer drugs hit patent cliff

Over $17 billion of sales will be at risk in 2018/19 as many of the top performing oncology drugs lose their patent or exclusivity protection, according to Datamonitor Healthcare, and this will grow to more than $32 billion by 2022. It adds that this $32 billion currently equates to around 36% of the cancer treatment market.

Of the top 10 selling oncology treatments, both Swiss drug major Roche’s (ROG: SIX) blockbuster breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Eli Lilly's Alimta (pemetrexed) for thoracic cancer will face patent expiry in the next 18 months in the European Union, with Johnson & Johnson's Velcade (bortezomib) the next to lose its US patent in 2017.

Higher prices expected