Patent protection for key blockbuster depression drugs will drive growth in Europe and Japan, but not USA, says DR report

Although generic erosion will negatively impact the major depression drug market in the United States, patent protection of key blockbuster agents will help drive market growth in Europe and Japan through 2018, according to a new study from research and advisory firm Decision Resources.

The new Pharmacor report entitled Major Depressive Disorder finds that sales of therapies for major depression in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan will increase by $500 million from 2008 to 2018. This growth will be attributable to increasing diagnosis and drug treatments rates in these countries and the patent protection of key agents that include Lundbeck/Forest's Lexapro (escitalopram oxalate) and Eli Lilly/Boehringer Ingelheim's Cymbalta/Xeristar (duloxetine). However, in contrast, the US market will decrease by $1.4 billion from 2008 to 2018, owing primarily to widespread generic erosion of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Lexapro and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) like Wyeth's Effexor XR (venlafaxine).

The report also finds that the atypical antipsychotics drug class, driven by sales of key agents such as Bristol-Myers Squibb/Otsuka Pharmaceutical's Abilify (aripiprazole) and AstraZeneca's Seroquel/Seroquel XR (quetiapine fumarate), will reach peak-year sales of just under $1.5 billion in 2013 in the major depression market. While patient share for atypical antipsychotics will continue to grow after 2013, generic erosion will constrain overall sales of these agents through 2018.