Breast cancer treatment market estimated to increase to over $13.1 billion by 2020

Novel therapy approvals to support continued dominance of HER2 targeted drugs, says GBI Research.

Analysis from business intelligence provider GBI Research - Breast Cancer Therapeutics in Major Developed Markets to 2020 - forecasts the breast cancer treatment market to increase in value from $9.2 billion in 2013 to more than $13.1 billion by 2020, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.1%.

The marketed products landscape comprises a wide range of treatment options, including chemotherapies and hormonal, combination, and targeted therapies. Despite this, a significant unmet need remains for drugs that can improve overall survival rate, time to disease progression, and overall response.

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Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women globally, and is second only to lung cancer in terms of female cancer-related deaths. While the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer has increased over the past few decades, the death rate has declined due to earlier diagnosis and improved treatment options.

Analyst Shreya Brahmbhat: "A multitude of breast cancer therapies are in preclinical and clinical trial stages and a substantial number of active drug candidates are in the discovery stage. Most of the pipeline drugs are novel, and a few are either generic or branded products that have already been marketed for other indications.

"Despite the launch of trastuzumab biosimilars that are likely to compete actively with Herceptin, branded drugs will become more favored by 2020. This, along with a gradual increase in the use of targeted therapies, will help to drive the almost $4 billion growth in the overall breast cancer treatment market value over the forecast period."

Key Findings Include:

• The current breast cancer therapeutics space includes novel products, such as targeted therapy Afinitor, human antibody-drug conjugate Kadcyla, and chemotherapeutic agent Halaven
• With over 600 active pipeline molecules, most investigational drug candidates are being evaluated for treating first- or second-line, advanced-stage breast cancer
• Analysis of clinical trials since 2006 identified that breast cancer molecule attrition rates in Phase III are similar to those seen in the overall pharmaceutical industry, while the failure rates in Phase I and Phase II are higher than the industry average