Avastin approval to drive ovarian cancer drug market to $1.5 billion in 2018

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the ovarian cancer drug market -- driven by the approval and rapid uptake of Roche/Genentech/Chugai's Avastin -- will more than triple from $449 million in 2008 to just under $1.5 billion in 2018 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

The Pharmacor 2010 findings from the topic entitled Ovarian Cancer reveal that, following its launch for ovarian cancer in the United States and Europe in 2011 and in Japan in 2013, Avastin will garner major market sales of nearly $900 million in 2018. Despite the low incidence of ovarian cancer relative to other cancers, drug-development activity for the indication is significant, with 11 drugs currently in Phase III clinical trails. Among the agents in the pipeline, Eisai/Morphotek's farletuzumab is expected to be the first emerging agent to launch for ovarian cancer, following its approval in 2014 in the U.S. and Europe and in 2016 in Japan.

The Pharmacor 2010 findings also reveal that, while platinum-based treatment will continue to be the standard of care for first- and second-line treatment of platinum-sensitive patients, ovarian cancer treatment is entering an era of molecularly targeted treatment.

"Surveyed experts indicate that polyadenosine 5'-diphosphoribose polymerase (PARP) inhibition is the most exciting drug development strategy in this indication," said Decision Resources Analyst Marcus Hoyle. "In 2014 in the U.S. and Europe, AstraZeneca's PARP inhibitor olaparib will launch for the treatment of the niche mutated BRCA1/BRCA2 ovarian cancer population."

Additionally, drug development opportunity remains for therapies that can delay or prevent progression to platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and surveyed experts believe that such gains are most likely to come from novel targeted agents.

"To this end, significant opportunity remains in identifying other genetic characteristics, in addition to BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations, that will lead to the development of novel molecularly targeted drugs," Mr. Hoyle added.