The Market for Kinase Inhibitors in Cancer Treatment will Experience Staggering Growth, Increasing from $769 Million in 2006 to More Than $7.5 Billion in 2016

WALTHAM, Mass. (Map) - WALTHAM, Mass., March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that sales of kinase inhibitors to treat solid cancer tumors will experience a staggering annual growth rate in the next several years, increasing from $769 million in 2006 to more than $7.5 billion in 2016 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan. However, despite the exponential market growth, significant research and development investment will be required to overcome challenges facing kinase inhibitor developers.

The new Pharmacor report entitled Kinase Inhibitors in Oncology finds that there are two major factors driving market growth. The first is the expansion of treatment into supplemental indications which will boost sales of the three currently marketed kinase inhibitors-Roche/Genentech/OSI Pharmaceuticals' Tarceva, Pfizer's Sutent and Bayer/Onyx's Nexavar. The second key driver of growth will be the market entry of new kinase inhibitors, including Pfizer's axitinib, AstraZeneca's cediranib and vandetanib, Wyeth's temsirolimus, Novartis's everolimus and GlaxoSmithKline's lapatinib and pazopanib.

The report finds that although the kinase inhibitor market will experience significant growth, increasing treatment costs will be a critical factor constraining the development of these agents. Kinase inhibitors are expensive relative to most conventional chemotherapy and their high cost may constrain physician prescribing, according to the report.

"Kinase inhibitors, which are relatively new entrants in cancer treatment, will dramatically boost growth in the oncology market and could potentially revolutionize medical practice in oncology," said Mohamed Muhsin, analyst at Decision Resources. "Although only seven kinase inhibitors are currently available to treat cancer tumors, this number is likely to increase to at least 12 by 2016. The currently available kinase inhibitors offer significant- albeit limited-clinical benefits relative to conventional treatments, but many challenges, including high cost, must be addressed before their true potential is unleashed."

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