Report: Alzheimer’s disease market will continue to grow

WALTHAM, Mass. The Alzheimer’s disease market will grow by 11% a year, thanks in part to new therapies for treating the disease, according to a report by market research firm Decision Resources.

According to the report, released Wednesday, new amyloid-fighting biologics for treating the disease, such as bapineuzumab by Elan and Wyeth and Eli Lilly & Co.’s solanezumab, will be the main drivers of the 11% annual growth between 2008 to 2018, taking more than half of the overall market. Other new drugs include Baxter’s Gammagard (immune globulin intravenous [human]), Lilly’s semagacestat and Dimebon (dimebolin hydrochloride), a drug developed by Russian scientists in the 1980s, and undergoing development by Pfizer and Medivation.

“Interviewed experts believe that the agents with the most clinical and commercial promise are the anti-beta amyloid monoclonal therapies, such as bapineuzumab and solanezumab, which have the potential to slow the rate of neurodegeneration and cognitive decline,” Decision Resources analyst Matthew Winton stated. “However, the efficacy and safety of these monoclonal antibodies has yet to be fully established.”