India's Hepatitis B Virus Drug Market Will Grow Ten-Fold by 2012

[Guest guest]

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/indias-hepatitis-b-virus-drug-market-wil\

l-grow-ten-fold-by-2012,507981.shtml

India's Hepatitis B Virus Drug Market Will Grow Ten-Fold by 2012

Posted : Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:07:06 GMT

Author : Decision Resources

WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the

world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and

healthcare issues, forecasts that the Indian hepatitis B virus drug market

will grow ten-fold by 2012, from $1.7 million in 2007 to $17 million in 2012.

According to the new Emerging Markets report entitled Hepatitis B Virus in

India, this growth will be fueled by a growing awareness of the hepatitis B

virus and the growth of individual wealth among India's urban middle and upper

class.

" We forecast the hepatitis B drug market to grow significantly in the

coming years, " said Lebbos, M.D., Vice President of Infectious Diseases

at Decision Resources. " Clinicians we interviewed expect that India's

increasing wealth, urbanization, and disease awareness will fuel an increase

in diagnosis, particularly following educational efforts surrounding the

inclusion of hepatitis B vaccines into the universal immunization program in

2009. "

Additionally, the report finds that the number of prevalent cases of

chronic hepatitis B virus in India (30.6 million in 2007) is three times that

of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and Japan

combined. However, both diagnosis rates and drug treatment rates in India are

extremely low, resulting in a virtually untapped antiviral market for the

disease.

" The general population does not regard hepatitis as a critical disease, "

explains a general practitioner based in Mumbai. " For most people, it's seen

as just normal jaundice. They won't understand the treatment or why the

clinician is being so sensitive to them. "

The report also finds that a drug's safety and efficacy profiles are the

most important factors influencing physician choice of a hepatitis B

antiviral, yet cost is often a major concern of both clinicians and patients.

A segment of interviewed specialists considered entecavir (Bristol-Myers

Squibb's Baraclude) to be their drug of choice for hepatitis B, but its high

cost results in infrequent use. Instead, lamivudine (GlaxoKline's

Hepitec, Cipla's Lamivir-HBV, GenixPharma's Heptavir, others) is the best

known and most commonly prescribed antiviral for hepatitis B. Some clinicians

have slowed their prescribing of lamivudine because of resistance and are now

using adefovir (Cipla's Adsera, SunPharma's Adfovir and Ranbaxy's Adheb),

despite the cost of adefovir being more than twice that of lamivudine.

The new report is part of an expansion of the Emerging Markets report

series to cover India. The series focuses on key urban areas -- Mumbai, Delhi,

Bangalore, Chennai -- and the high-growth second-tier markets of Lucknow and

Jaipur. The Indian pharmaceutical market is estimated to have increased eight

percent from 2006 to 2007.

All company, brand or product names contained in this document may be

trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

For more information, contact:

Marshall

Decision Resources

781-296-2563

emarshall@...

SOURCE Decision Resources