A new report produced by a business and market research company (Vertical Edge Limited, London, UK) has predicted that sales of Regeneron’s Eylea (aflibercept) will capture 29% of the world market by 2017 and will reach almost $4.5 billion in revenues per annum by 2022. The market estimate, reported in “Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Other Retinal Diseases: World Drug Market 2014-2024”, states that demand for Eylea has already out-performed market expectations with double-digit sales growth expected over the next few years as the the number of labelling indications expand.
Over recent years significant revenues have been earned in the main ophthalmic markets from the three core anti-VEGF compounds – bevacizumab (Avastin), ranibizumab (Lucentis) and aflibercept (Eylea) – used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO). The three compounds differ in both molecular structure and VEGF binding affinities: bevacizumab is a humanized murine full-length antibody against VEGF-A with a molecular weight of 149 kDa; ranibizumab is a high affinity Fab-fragment against VEGF-A, with a molecular weight of 48 kDa, and; aflibercept is a fusion protein with a molecular weight of 115 kDa, composed of the 2nd immunoglobulin domain of the VEGFR-1 and the 3rd immunoglobulin domain of the VEGFR-2 connected to an Fc-fragment. In addition, the three compounds have three different clinically relevant concentrations: bevacizumab is used at 0.25mg/ml, ranibizumab at 0.125mg/ml and aflibercept at 0.5mg/ml.
The business and market report, available through companiesandmarkets.com, predicts that the global retinal disease market will experience strong year-on-year growth over the coming years with expected revenues of almost $10 billion per annum by 2017. According to the report, “Eylea’s lower cost and superior label dosing schedule combined with the apparent ill-will generated by attempts to protect Lucentis’s position in the market is favouring the drug’s uptake. Over the longer-term growth demand for Eylea is forecast to be restrained by Lucentitis getting to other retinal disease indications first and the constant presence of Avastin as a lower cost off-label option in the market.”