Top 25 Rheumatology Drugs 2017

Rheumatology drug market is a highly consolidated market with the top ten players accounting for nearly 90% of the market share. The market is also highly competitive with new researches and drug discovery programs by various pharma giants. Abbvie’s Humira tops the list with great margin accounting for more than 30% of the top ten list. In terms of market presence, J&J steals the show with three drugs in top ten anti-rheumatic drugs, accounting for the larger share (25%) in the top ranking list.

Humira

The blockbuster product of Abbvie is used to treat multiple types of arthritis, spondylitis, psoriasis, colitis, crohn’s disease amongst others. The product generated revenues of USD 16 billion with a growth rate of 15%. The company plans to dedicate substantial research and development efforts to expanding indications for HUMIRA, including in the fields of rheumatology, gastroenterology and dermatology. Humira’s performance was driven by continued market penetration across therapeutic categories and geographies.

Enbrel

Co-produced by Pfizer and Amgen, Enbrel is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, plaque psoriasis, pediatric plaque psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis and nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis. The product shows very little growth over last year, primarily due to the impact of the entrance of the first etanercept biosimilar, as well as mandated price reductions across certain markets in Europe, partially offset by stronger demand and price increases in emerging markets, especially in Latin America.

Remicade

It is used to manage a number of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and is co-developed by J&J along with Merck. The drug currently shows a negative growth rate although the sales are high due to significant challenges to patents expiration in certain European countries and biosimilars competition in U.S. The company expects a further decrease in the sales of the product in the coming years.

Rituxan

This product by Roche is used to treat blood cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and certain types of vasculitis. Sales continued to rise despite competitive pressure. Sales were 3% higher, driven primarily by growth in China (+25%) and in the US (+2%) in oncology and immunology. Sales in the U.S. were negatively impacted by higher discounts to hospitals under the 340B Drug Discount Program. Sales in Europe increased by 3%, mainly due to high sales growth in Germany and France. Sales growth in Japan was mainly due to an increase in market share reflecting the approval for additional dosage and administration for non-Hodgkin lymphoma maintenance therapy.

Stelara

A treatment for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis and active psoriatic arthritis, and for adults with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease, the drug shows promising growth rate of 31% from 2015 to 2016. This high growth of the product was primarily driven by immunology market growth and increased penetration of the product in the market.

Simponi

It is used as a subcutaneous treatment for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, active psoriatic arthritis, active ankylosing spondylitis and moderately active to severely active ulcerative colitis. Another drug from the same set of producers as Stelara also dominates the top ten list in terms of growth rate. Long patent life and overall rheumatology market growth will ensure the product growth in the coming years.

Orencia

Orencia is a fusion protein indicated for adult patients with moderate to severe active RA and is also indicated for reducing signs and symptoms in certain pediatric patients with moderately to severely active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The revenues for the drug increased due to higher average net selling prices and demand. BMS and Ono also have an alliance to co-develop and co-commercialize Orencia in Japan. BMS is responsible for the order fulfillment and distribution of the intravenous formulation and Ono is responsible for the subcutaneous formulation.

Actemra/RoActemra

Actemra is used to manage rheumatoid arthritis and forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Increasing use of Actemra/RoActemra as a single agent and of the subcutaneous formulation remained key growth drivers globally. Sales increased by 16%, with growth in all regions. This was especially driven by increased demand for the subcutaneous formulation, which represented 39% of the total Actemra/RoActemra sales, and in monotherapy.

Cimzia

It is used to treat inflammatory TNF-mediated diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and Crohn’s diseases. Net sales increased by 21% driven by sustainable growth in all markets where Cimzia is available to patients living with inflammatory TNF mediated diseases. Furthermore, phase 3 clinical studies of the drug conducted in March 2016 reveals promising results in case of juvenile idiopathic arthritis which may result in enhanced growth rate in the coming years.

Cosentyx

A new entrant in the top ten lists with more than 100% growth rate, Cosentyx is the first approved fully human monoclonal antibody which plays an important role in driving the body’s immune response in several disorders. In 2016, the company received FDA approval to treat patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The two new indications follow FDA and EU approvals in January 2015 to treat moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, and European approval in November 2015 to treat AS and PsA. These developments resulted in making the drug a blockbuster product for the company.

Source: Annual reports, SEC filings, press releases, company website

?Luca Dezzani is a Novartis employee. All the views, analysis, and perspectives are fully independent and belongs to the author only. They do not represent the views or opinions of Novartis or any other company or organization. IgeaHub is a pharmaceutical blog created and curated by Luca Dezzani.  IgeaHub does not receive any funding or support from Novartis or any other pharmaceutical company.