Atrial fibrillation drug market to increase nearly eight-fold to over $10 billion in 2020

The atrial fibrillation drug market will increase nearly eight-fold over the next decade, growing from $1.3 billion in 2010 to more than $10 billion in 2020 in the leading markets of the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan, according to the findings of advisory firm Decision Resources. The launch and rapid uptake of new oral anticoagulants, atrial-selective antiarrhythmic drugs and the expanding prevalent patient population will be the key drivers of market growth, it says.

The findings from DR’s Pharmacor topic titled Atrial Fibrillation reveal that stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation is undergoing a transformation and is the most active area of drug development in this indication. A wave of new oral anticoagulants, with clinical profiles superior to that of warfarin (Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Coumadin, Eisai’s Warfarin, generics), will capture 72% of the market by 2020. The leading anticoagulants will be Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer’s Eliquis (apixaban), Daiichi Sankyo’s Lixiana and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate).

Eliquis, owing to the strength of its clinical data, is expected to overshadow its rivals, Pradaxa and Bayer/Janssen’s Xarelto (rivaroxaban), which were further ahead in development.