Adding new multiple myeloma meds to the mix will boost sales to $9B: report

Print 01 September 2015
Carly Helfand / FiercePharmaMarketing

The market for multiple myeloma drugs is poised for expansion, in part thanks to a globally aging population and improved diagnostic techniques. But new meds are doing their fair share, too, and they'll help push the market's value to nearly $9 billion in 2021, a new report says.

The market will balloon to $8.9 billion early next decade from $7.3 billion in 2014, according to GBI Research, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 4.6%. Both newly approved drugs and current pipeline prospects should play a part in getting it there.

Newcomer therapies could gain ground as they continue to address previously unmet needs in the space. Amgen's ($AMGN) Kyprolis, for one, has proved effective in heavily pre-treated patients, and after shelling out $10.4 billion to buy that drug's maker, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, the company wouldn't mind a boost. Novartis' ($NVS) Farydak, approved in February, represented "another novel entry into the market" and demonstrated "how diversity and innovation continue to drive" the myeloma treatment landscape, the GBI report states.

And candidates such as Takeda's Velcade successor ixazomib, Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) and AbbVie's ($ABBV) elotuzumab, and daratumumab from Johnson & Johnson's ($JNJ) Janssen unit will supplement the current market leaders, GBI predicts--including Celgene behemoth Revlimid. Each of those in-development meds could hit the scene before 2021--introducing more options, especially in for relapsed and hard-to-treat patients--and all have shown clinical benefit when used in tandem with the Celgene ($CELG) star.

Of course, some of those investigative drugs will prove higher-impact than others, as GBI analyst Yasser Mushtaq notes. Meds that look promising in specific patient populations, including elotuzumab and daratumumab, are "likely to provide physicians with increased choice and complexity in multiple myeloma treatment over the forecast period," he said in a statement.

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