Gastric cancer drug market to grow from $700M in 2009 to $1.5B in 2019

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the rapid uptake and market penetration of key targeted agents, beginning with Roche/Genentech/Chugai's Herceptin, will drive the gastric cancer drug market to more than double, from $700 million in 2009 to nearly $1.5 billion in 2019.

The Pharmacor 2010 findings from the topic entitled Gastric Cancer reveal that the robust uptake of Herceptin, which gained European approval for the indication earlier this year, marks the beginning of a new era of targeted treatment for gastric cancer. By 2014, the launch of Bristol-Myers Squibb/Eli Lilly/ImClone Systems/Merck KGaA's Erbitux, GlaxoSmithKline's Tykerb/Tyverb and Novartis's Afinitor and Eli Lilly/ImClone Systems' IMC-1121B (ramucirumab) will also drive significant market growth. In 2019, combined sales of these premium-priced targeted agents will account for more than half of the gastric cancer drug market in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

The Pharmacor 2010 findings also reveal that, although the clinical trial failure of Roche/Genentech/Chugai's Avastin will significantly dent the company's overall sales potential in this space, these companies are poised to become major players in this market, following the launch of Herceptin.

"In 2009, Roche/Genentech/Chugai held 13 percent of the gastric cancer market owing to sales of Xeloda," said Decision Resources Analyst Rachel Webster, D.Phil. "In 2014, Roche/Genentech/Chugai will capture nearly one-third of the overall market, owing to increasing sales of Xeloda and the rapid emergence of Herceptin."