Stomach Cancer - Drug Pipeline Analysis and Market Forecasts to 2016

07 Jun 2010 • by Natalie Aster

GlobalData, the industry analysis specialist, has released its latest research, “Stomach Cancer - Drug Pipeline Analysis and Market Forecasts to 2016” which provides the key data, information and analysis on the stomach cancer market. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the annualized market data from 2001 to 2009, and forecasts for seven years to 2016. The research also includes a market characterization, opportunities, the unmet needs associated with stomach cancer, a competitive assessment, profiles of the major marketed products and promising drugs in the pipeline, an overview of the discontinued projects, implications for the future market competition, and the key players in the stomach cancer market.

The Gastric Cancer Market is Forecast to Show Strong Growth Until 2016

GlobalData’s analysis suggests that the global gastric cancer market was worth $750m in 2009. It is forecast to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.3% to $1,313m in 2016. Most of the chemotherapies are already off-patent while Taxotere and Xeloda are expected to lose their patents during 2010 to 2011. Taxotere’s generic version, produced by Hospira, has already been approved in Europe through the decentralized procedure. The market is expected to be driven by the increase in demand due to the launch of promising targeted therapies currently in the late stage of development. The pending approval of Herceptin in the US and Japan will also boost the revenues generated in the gastric cancer market. However, the new therapies are not expected go off-patent before 2016. Therefore, the market is expected to witness strong growth in market revenues in the forecast period.

Competition Among the Marketed Products is Weak in the Gastric Cancer Market

GlobalData’s analysis suggests that all the chemotherapy regimens in the market have comparable efficacy profiles and offer a median overall survival of around 10-11 months. Most chemotherapies have been off-patent for a long time while Taxotere and Xeloda are expected to go off-patent soon. In addition, the safety profiles of the three-drug chemotherapy regimens are not tolerable as the toxicities lead to discontinuation. The FDA approved combination DCF (Docetaxel, Cisplatin, 5-Fluorouracil) is the leading treatment regimen for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. In addition, there is currently no standard of treatment due to a lack of consensus over the most appropriate treatment regimen across the major geographies. Therefore, the competition among the marketed products is weak in the gastric cancer market.

High Unmet Need in the Gastric Cancer Market Increases the Need for Therapies with Better Efficacy and Tolerable Safety Profiles

Due to the nature of its symptoms, gastric cancer patients are usually diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease. Therefore, the survival rates are very low in patients with metastatic gastric cancer. Although the survival rates were higher in patients whose tumors were resected, the two-year and five-year rates in patients with unresectable and metastatic cancers are very low and require products with better efficacy. In addition, the safety profiles of the leading chemotherapy regimens such as DCF are not well tolerated in patients. Approximately half of the patients treated in the Phase III trials experienced adverse events such as diarrhea and neutropenia. Therefore, there is high unmet need for potential competitors to cater to and utilize the huge untapped potential in the market.

Gastric Cancer Market Awaits Four Promising Biologics in Late Stage Development

The pipeline for gastric cancer market is strong with four promising therapies: cetuximab, lapatinib, IMC-1121B and everolimus. Cetuximan and lapatinib are in development for first-line treatment while IMC-1121B and everolimus are in development for the second-line treatment of advanced gastric cancer Everolimus is also in development for third-line treatment for gastric cancer. These drugs have shown promising results in their early development stages and are expected to increase demand in the market once approved.

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