Hypertension drug market to decrease through 2013 due to generic erosion and few emerging therapies

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, in addition to extensive generic erosion, the hypertension drug market will be constrained through 2018 by a pipeline containing very few emerging therapies with novel mechanisms of action. Gilead's darusentan was positioned to be the next emerging therapy with a novel mechanism of action to reach the hypertension market. However, following darusentan's failure to meet its primary endpoint in the recent DORADO-AC Phase III clinical trial, further development of the agent has been terminated.

The Pharmacor 2010 findings from the topic entitled Hypertension show that the majority of emerging agents for the indication are fixed-dose combinations of currently available therapies. The only novel agents in mid- to late-stage development for hypertension are Novartis's LCZ-696, Pharmacopeia's PS-433540 and Cytos Biotechnology's CYT006-AngQb. However, among these drugs, PS-433540 is in development primarily for diabetic nephropathy and the efficacy of CYT006-AngQb is under question.

"In terms of novel emerging therapies, focus has now shifted to the separate ongoing clinical trials for LCZ-696, PS-433540 and CYT006-AngQb," said Decision Resources Analyst Caroline Gates. "In particular, with regard to LCZ-696, interviewed experts believe that physicians will be very enthusiastic about this drug if it demonstrates the ability to lower blood pressure to the same extent as Bristol-Myers Squibb's Vanlev but without a similarly high incidence of angioedema."

The Pharmacor 2010 findings reveal that the generic erosion of many branded agents and the remaining need for therapies with novel mechanisms of action will cause the hypertension drug market to decrease modestly by 1.5 percent annually through 2013. Thereafter, the annual decline will slow to 1 percent through 2018 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.