Contact Information: CONTACT INFORMATION: Jeremy Spivey 919-433-0373
Generics Will Challenge Parkinson's Drug Sales in 2010, According to New Cutting Edge Information Forecasting Study
| Source: Cutting Edge Information
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwire - February 19, 2009) - Generic challengers are geared
up to erode sales in the market for Parkinson's drugs. The number-two
Parkinson's drug by sales in the US, Boehringer-Ingleheim's Mirapex, will
lose patent exclusivity January 1, 2010.
The generic competition will arrive earlier than expected. The terms of a
2008 settlement between Boehringer-Ingelheim and generic maker Barr
Pharmaceuticals give Barr the right to launch generic Mirapex, pramipexole,
10 months before Mirapex's original patent is set to expire. In exchange,
Barr (now part of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries) will pay
Boehringer-Ingelheim an undisclosed amount in royalties.
According to "Neurodegenerative Market Forecast to 2013," a report written
by pharmaceutical research firm Cutting Edge Information
(http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/neurodegenerative), the early generic
competition will severely impact Mirapex's 2010 sales.
"Many analysts had forecast more than $500 million in US Mirapex sales for
2010, but they assumed patent exclusivity through October of that year,"
said Jeremy Spivey, lead author of the report. "With this settlement,
Mirapex is unlikely to surpass $200 million in US sales in that period."
Implications will reach beyond Boehringer-Ingelheim in the Parkinson's
market. GlaxoSmithKline's Requip XL, for example, is the second
highest-selling dopamine agonist. "Generic competition from Barr may
easily hurt Requip sales, too," said Spivey.
Branded drug makers hope that innovation will make up for patent losses.
The standard of care treatment for Parkinson's disease, levodopa, has been
off patent for decades. For that reason, little growth is expected from
this class in the future. However, several newer therapies are available
to treat the condition. Teva's Agilect grossed $170 million in US sales
for 2008, and analysts expect sales of $217 million for 2009. Novartis'
Comtan earned $502 million in 2008. Other drugs are coming -- analysts
expect that Acadia's ACP-103, a developmental drug, will receive FDA
approval in 2009.
For more forecasting data from Cutting Edge Information's neurodegenerative
market study, download a complimentary brochure here:
http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/neurodegenerative/TA222_Download.asp#body