The global biosimilar drug market is projected to reach $2.44 billion in 2013, an increase of more than 20% over 2012 and approximately 2% of the overall biologics market. The estimate is contained in a new Visiongain study, which also predicts a rapid expansion of these products to 2023, driven by launches around the world, but especially in the United States and the EU.
The fastest growing will be biosimilars of monoclonal antibodies and insulins, which will be launched in Europe next year. From 2014, many companies will look to launch new drugs of this kind, such as 'low-cost' versions of Rituxan (rituximab) and Herceptin (trastuzumab) from Roche and Remicade (infliximab) from Johnson & Johnson-Merck & Co.
By 2023, monoclonal antibodies and biosimilar insulins will account for the 57% of biologic copies. Other segments of the market are also expected to continue to grow, such as biosimilar erythropoietins, which are already available in Europe, Japan and other developed markets, but which have so far achieved limited revenues compared with their reference biologics.
Finally, the study predicts that the market for human growth hormone biosimilars will have a slower growth. Many companies are interested in entering the biosimilars market, comments Richard Lang, pharmaceutical market analyst at Visiongain, noting that these drugs offer an easier way to launch biopharmaceutical products, rather than developing new ones. In recent years, large multinationals such as Pfizer, Merck & Co and Boehringer Ingelheim have invested in this sector.
Barbara Di Chiara – May 15, 2013 – PharmaKronos
Biosimilars: world market +20% in 2013. The 2% of biologicals
