Breast cancer is a difficult diagnosis to receive for any woman, as this disease leads to approximately 40,000 deaths in the United States every year. Breast cancer also affects about one in eight women throughout a lifetime. The healthcare sector and cancer drug market has focused on developing better treatments over the years, which has led to higher survival rates among breast cancer patients.

A press release issued by Decision Resources, a research and advisory agency for the pharmaceutical industry, stated that the breast cancer drug market will grow significantly through 2021. There are three specific medications that will be pushing this growth forward in breast cancer drug sales. These include; Novartis’ Afinitor, Roche/Genentech’s Perjeta, and trastuzumab-DM1.

Afinitor has gained regulatory approval in Europe and the United States to market medication that treats hormone-receptor positive breast cancer, which is expected to raise this company’s peak-year sales past $1 billion. Ongoing clinical development of the drug Perjeta is also predicted to help it bring impressive sales through 2021. Targeted therapies are predicted to keep advancing the treatment of breast cancer.

“Breast cancer drug development is a hive of activity but despite the busy pipeline, we forecast the uptake of just three novel agents in this market through 2021,” Decision Resources analyst Amy Duval said in the press release. “Two of these agents will penetrate only the HER2-positive market segment, which will continue to be dominated by Roche.”

One report from GBI Research explains that the breast cancer therapy market was worth $9.2 billion in 2013 among eight major nations – the UK, Canada, France, the US, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan. This market is expected to reach $13.1 billion by 2020, the report mentioned.

The United States had the largest market share in 2013 followed by Japan and Italy. Canada, however, had the lowest share among these nations last year. Along with these countries, Pharma Times reported that the market for breast cancer drugs will also grow in India, China, Brazil, and Russia over the next few years.

The reason for the growth is due to a rise in incidence rate and an increase in targeted therapies. Sales in China are expected to grow the most among the four countries over the coming years. Roche’s drug Herceptin is also expected to remain the lead in sales through 2017.

A Bloomberg article discussed the advancement of the drugmaker Roche in the cancer therapeutics market. Net income for this company accelerated by 18 percent last year and new products will only contribute to its success in the coming years. The breast cancer medication Kadcyla and the leukemia drug Gazyva is expected to add to this company’s growth. Roche is also seeking acquisitions to continue its expansion in this market.

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Categories: Oncology

Tags: cancer drug market, tumor models