Decision Resources projects modest growth for UC drug market

BURLINGTON, Mass. The drug market for ulcerative colitis treatments will see modest growth through 2019, according to a new report by Decision Resources.

The research and advisory firm said that the UC drug market will see growth of $800 million, driven by the uptake of Abbott and Eisai's Humira, Centocor Ortho Biotech/Merck/Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma/Janssen's Simponi and Millennium's vedolizumab in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and Japan.

A report by Pharmacor also noted that the market will grow as the prevalence of ulcerative colitis in the United States has risen, but drug failures in late-stage clinical trials have plagued the clinical development of additional therapies for moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, where the greatest level of unmet need remains.

"Although several agents are in mid- to late-stage clinical development for ulcerative colitis, interviewed thought leaders consider the cell adhesion molecule inhibitor vedolizumab to be one of the most promising emerging therapies with a novel mechanism of action," said Decision Resources analyst Bingnan Kang. "Phase-3 clinical trials for vedolizumab in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are currently under way in both the United States and Europe."

Back in February, Decision Resources projected that the market for drugs to treat ulcerative colitis could almost double within less than 10 years.