By 2028, One-Quarter of Total Pain Sales Will be Attributable to Novel Drug Classes

BURLINGTON, Mass., Oct. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources Group finds that the overall pain market will maintain $38 billion in sales in 2028 across the major pharmaceutical markets (United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Japan); the loss of sales due to the generic entry of several blockbuster pain therapies in the first half of the 2013-2028 forecast period will be offset by the uptake of emerging agents in current drug classes as well as products representing novel drug classes. Decision Resources Group expects anti-nerve growth factor (anti-NGF) monoclonal antibodies to be the most commercially successful novel analgesic drug class, garnering $7.7 billion in sales by the end of 2028.

Other key findings from the Pharmacor report entitled Novel Approaches to Pain Therapy include:

• The pipeline for early-stage pain therapies remains highly active: There are substantial challenges associated with discovering molecules, biologics, and gene therapies that possess suitable clinical profiles for practical pain management. Of the hundreds of development programs that have yet to reach proof-of-concept, only a small number of novel drug targets have piqued the interest of key opinion leaders interviewed by Decision Resources Group.
• Voltage-gated ion channels within pain pathways are a key therapeutic target: Thought leaders interviewed still consider the selective targeting of subtypes of voltage-gated ion channels within pain pathways—particularly Nav1.7— to be an approach that offers significant commercial potential. Two subtype-selective ion channel modulators, Teva/Xenon's TV-45070 (formerly XEN-402) and Convergence Pharmaceuticals' CNV-1014802, have now demonstrated proof-of-concept for the treatment of neuropathic pain in Phase II clinical trials and are entering later-stage development.

Comments from Decision Resources Group Principal Business Insights Analyst Natalie Taylor, Ph.D.:

• "Pain specialists interviewed by Decision Resources Group reiterate that there is still a great need for pain medications that are consistently effective and that can provide pain relief over the long term. Experts also state that patients with neuropathic pain syndromes are the most inadequately served in terms of effective treatments, and therefore this segment of the pain market offers considerable market opportunity for novel therapies."
• "All novel emerging pain agents will be competing in a market occupied by multiple well-established, inexpensive generic agents. Novel analgesics must offer improvements in efficacy, safety, and/or tolerability that are clinically meaningful over generic competitors to gain acceptance from both prescribers and payers. The novel drugs expected to achieve blockbuster status during the forecast period—tanezumab (Pfizer/Eli Lilly) and fulranumab (Johnson & Johnson/Takeda)—are expected to offer clear improvements in efficacy, albeit balanced against safety risks. Furthermore, subtype-selective ion channel modulators hold the potential to specifically target pain pathways and relieve pain in difficult-to-treat neuropathic pain conditions."

About Decision Resources Group
Decision Resources Group offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on critical issues within the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Find out more at www.DecisionResourcesGroup.com.

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For more information, contact:

Christopher Comfort
Decision Resources Group
781-993-2597
[email protected]

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SOURCE Decision Resources Group