Parkinson's drug market set to reach $3.4 billion in 2016, says Visiongain

The overall global market for drugs to treat Parkinson's disease will reach a value of $3.43 billion in 2016, according to a new report for business information provider Visiongain, covering the 2013 to 2023 period.

The study finds that new first-in-class drugs will boost the Parkinson's disease market. Adenosine receptor antagonists will gain approval in the near term followed by new glutamatergic drugs, with Swiss drug major Novartis' (NOVN: VX) AFQ056 (mavoglurant) and Switzerland-based biopharma company Addex Pharmaceuticals’ (SIX: ADXN) dipraglurant vying to be the first in this class. These approvals will invigorate the market and offset patent expiries for older drugs such as German independent drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim's Mirapex (pramipexole dihydrochloride).

James Evans, a pharmaceutical industry analyst in Visiongain, said: "Our analyses identify several new symptomatic treatments for unmet needs in Parkinson's disease (PD), including orthostatic hypotension, Parkinson's-related psychosis and sialorrhoea. However, the R&D pipeline contains more significant candidates than these, in the form of possible disease-modifying agents that could change the treatment paradigm. These include repurposed existing drugs such as exenatide and isradapine, and new small-molecule agents such as Phytopharm's Cogane [PYM 50028] and Newron's safinamide. Many possible neuroprotectants are novel agents, including gene therapies, stem cell treatments and peptides.”