Analysts Expect Surge in Parkinson's Disease Treatment Market

The market for drugs to treat Parkinson's disease is expected to grow dramatically over the next several years, driven primarily by an aging population and increasing disease prevalence.

Three new drugs are expected to lead the surge of newly approved drugs and drug candidates. These include Rytary, manufactured by Impax (Hayward, CA, USA), which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2015; safinamide (Xadago) from Newron Pharmaceuticals (Milan, Italy), which was approved in Europe in February 2015 and accepted for a New Drug Application by the FDA in March 2015; and CVT-301, which is being developed by Acorda (Ardsley, NY, USA).

Rytary is a combination of carbidopa (an aromatic amino acid decarboxylation inhibitor) and levodopa (an aromatic amino acid) indicated for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, post-encephalitic parkinsonism, and parkinsonism that may follow carbon monoxide intoxication or manganese intoxication.

Safinamide is a reversible and selective monoamine oxidase B inhibitor, reducing degradation of dopamine, and a glutamate release inhibitor. It also seems to inhibit dopamine reuptake. Additionally, safinamide blocks sodium and calcium channels.

CVT-301 is a self-administered, inhaled formulation of levodopa (L-dopa) in development for treatment of OFF episodes in Parkinson’s disease, and is being studied to provide rapid, reliable delivery of a precise dose of L-dopa through the lungs to return people with Parkinson’s to an ON state. OFF episodes, which increase in frequency and severity during the course of the disease, are defined by periods of time when background L-dopa therapy does not adequately control Parkinson’s symptoms.

The market analysis firm GlobalData (London, United Kingdom) estimated that the Parkinson’s disease treatment market value across the eight major countries of the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Brazil will reach 4.7 billion USD by 2022.

GlobalData further predicted that global sales for safinamide and Rytary will reach 409.6 million USD and 202.2 million USD, respectively, by 2022. They also suggested that CVT-301 would garner strong sales of 458.6 million USD in 2022.

Related Links:
Impax
Newron Pharmaceuticals
Acorda