Macular Degenerati?on Market to Witness Modest Growth in the Asia-Pacif?ic Region

The macular degeneration market in the Asia-Pacific region (India, Australia, China and Japan) is expected to undergo a moderate increase from $675.7 million in 2012 to $1,016.1 million by 2019, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6%, says business intelligence provider GBI Research. The absence of promising products in the pipeline or expected new drug launches is thought to account for the expected increase.

According to the company’s latest report*, Japan represented 53% of the macular degeneration market in the Asia-Pacific region in 2012, followed by Australia, with a 33% share. Although there is currently no prominent drug launches scheduled, the market is set to grow moderately because of an increase in the region’s aging population.

In addition, in 2012, approximately 98% of the global wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) market revenue was generated by anti-angiogenic therapies.

The cumulative revenue achieved by these therapies (Lucentis, Eylea and Macugen) was found to be $4.9 billion. Nearly 80% of the revenue was generated by Lucentis, followed by the new entrant, Eylea, with a share of 18%.

Another market driver is the considerable R&D activities surrounding novel and effective diagnostic tools for the identification of AMD, such as ArcticDx Inc., which has developed a test to determine a person’s inherited risk for AMD.

However, the high annual cost of therapy for the AMD drugs, excluding the off-label Avastin, challenges the number of people using the treatment, especially in countries such as India and China, because of low healthcare access.

Sravanthi Addapally, GBI Research’s Analyst, says: “Along with the high cost of therapy, patient compliance also diminishes following a slight improvement in vision or attainment of symptomatic relief. Such reduced adherence to the treatment regimen could be a barrier to the macular degeneration therapeutics market.”

Also, there is a high percentage of failure rates in both early- and late-stage clinical trials of the therapy, which could also hinder further market growth.

*Macular Degeneration Therapeutics Market in Asia-Pacific to 2019 - Existing Angiogenics Retain Dominance Though High Unmet Need Remains