Need for Further Research into Brain Injuries Creates Opportunities for Pharma

Friday 29 June 2012, Amsterdam

Opportunities exist for pharmaceutical companies to increase their offerings in the traumatic brain injury (TBI) market, as current therapeutic options for TBI patients are not efficient enough to greatly reduce mortality or prevent brain damage, according to the Traumatic Brain Injury Therapeutics - Pipeline Assessment and Market Forecasts to 2019 report.

The report suggests that limited funding for new TBI therapies may be hindering the development of effective medicines to counter the increasing number of injuries and fatalities being caused by falls, car accidents and incidences of violence.

The TBI market is a vital part of emergency medicine, requiring therapies that reduce fatalities and prevent further brain damage to reduce resulting disabilities.

While increasingly stringent road safety, fire-arm and alcohol consumption laws, and advancements in automation technology hope to reduce the number of serious accidents taking place, TBI remains a major cause of death and disability in the general population. In the US, one third of all injury related deaths are due to TBI, while an estimated 5.3 million people are living with a permanent TBI-related disability.

Currently, no drug is approved to directly treat any phase of TBI or the associated medical complications. TBI treatment is presently divided into acute management of medical complications in hospitals, treatment for mild TBI symptoms, and management of post-TBI medical complications. The acute management of TBI in hospitals includes treatment for high Intracranial Pressure (ICP), infection prophylaxis, Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), hematoma and the prevention of early seizures, with various drugs being employed for the management of each specific complication.

This analysis found that there are 30 molecules in pipeline development, a significant proportion of which is occupied by first-in-class molecules boasting a novel mechanism of action. However, only four molecules are in the late-stage of development, and only one molecule, BHR-100, is expected to be launched in the forecast period. BHR-100 is not a novel molecule, and is currently only indicated for severe TBI patients, accounting for less than 10% of the total patient population.

The TBI therapeutics market therefore has a high unmet medical need, and a ‘miracle drug’ is desperately sought to manage all medical aspects of TBI.

The report valued the TBI therapeutics market in 2011 at $1,247m and expects it to grow at an compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.8% to reach $1,554m by 2019.

This report identifies the key trends shaping and driving the global traumatic brain injury therapeutics market, and provides insights on the prevalent competitive landscape and the emerging players expected to significantly alter the market positioning of the current market leaders. Most importantly, the report provides valuable insights on the pipeline products within the global traumatic brain injury therapeutics sector.

This report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis by a team of industry experts.