Incivek and Victrelis to Kick-Start Huge Hepatitis C Market Growth

Thursday 25 October 2012, Amsterdam

The approval of the US Food and Drug Administration in May of last year for two drugs, Incivek and Victrelis, has sparked explosive pharmaceutical industry revenue gains that will see the hepatitis C market grow exponentially in size by 2018, predicts new research by healthcare sector analysts.

The firm’s latest report states that the market for hepatitis C will climb from a 2011 value of $2.6 bn to just under $15 bn by the end of 2018, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 28%.

According to the new report, last year’s introduction of Incivek (co-developed by Vertex and Johnson & Johnson) and Victrelis (from US firm, Merck & Co.) marked the beginning of a boom period for the global hepatitis C market following years of sliding revenues.

Both of these highly influential treatments will be subject to large-scale marketing across the US, Europe and Japan in the coming years and will contribute significantly to the industry’s value.

Drug manufacturer profits are expected to be further bolstered by the imminent launch of oral DAA molecules (the first of which should be on the market in 2015) and the increased reliance on prescribing DAA drug combinations within the healthcare community.

Almost 8 million people worldwide were estimated to have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 2011, climbing from 7.6 million in 2004. Thanks to improving treatments and an increasing awareness within the general population, analysis expect this figure to drop below the 7 million mark by 2018.