Brands & Strategies: HIV

In This Issue...

Introduction

Valued at more than $8.1 billion across the major pharmaceutical markets (US, Europe, and Japan) in 2006, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment market is the largest antiviral market. More than 25 years of successful innovation have lead to a crowded and increasingly competitive market that includes several dozen approved antiretroviral agents. The HIV market has traditionally been dominated by "Big Pharma," including GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, Pfizer, and Merck; however, the emergence of Gilead as a leader in HIV demonstrates the ability of smaller, biotechnology-oriented competitors to succeed in this highly specialized market, and a number of other biotech companies will enter the market with novel antiretrovirals before 2011. HIV has been one of the most active and well-funded areas of research and development among infectious diseases, yielding a broad and highly promising pipeline including next-generation products from existing drug classes and two novel drug classes. Integrase inhibitors (Merck' s Isentress, Gilead' s elvitegravir) and CCR5 antagonists (Pfizer' s Selzentry, Schering-Plough' s vicriviroc) represent significant clinical advances and will be important market growth drivers, propelling the HIV market to reach $10.1 billion by 2011.

Questions Answered in This Report

• GlaxoSmithKline led the HIV market in 2006 with a market share of nearly 30%; however, the company' s HIV franchise is under intense pressure from Gilead, which will become the market leader. How did GlaxoSmithKline achieve its market leading position, and why are its sales now suffering? What strategies has Gilead employed to position itself to overtake GlaxoSmithKline for market dominance?
• Gilead and GlaxoSmithKline are perceived as the most influential companies in the HIV market, and are most frequently cited as top-of-mind competitors in the field in a survey of US-based infectious disease specialists. How do physicians perceive the relative strengths of companies in the HIV market? What factors are most important in determining a physician' s perception of a company?
• 2006 saw the launch of Gilead/Bristol-Myers Squibb/Merck' s Atripla, the first complete one-pill, once-daily HIV drug regimen. How has the availability of Atripla altered physicians' prescribing habits, and which competing brands will be most affected?
• The availability of numerous antiretroviral drugs provides physicians with ample choice in terms of treatment options, but infectious disease specialists continue to cite the need for new and better therapies, especially for treatment-experienced patients. What do physicians identify as the key attributes of currently marketed agents? What are the perceived advantages and/or disadvantages of current and emerging therapies?
• The HIV pipeline features a broad array of compounds and no fewer than eleven new antiretrovirals will launch for the treatment of HIV from 2006-2011, including agents from existing and novel drug classes. What products are being developed in the major competitors' pipelines and which of these agents are most highly anticipated by physicians? How will emerging drugs perform if approved for HIV treatment?

Scope

• Markets Covered: United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and Japan.
• Competitive Analysis: Detailed discussion of major competitors including GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, and Merck, as well as emerging competitors Tibotec (a Johnson & Johnson company), Avexa, Achillion, Pharmasset, and Schering-Plough. Included is an analysis of each company' s HIV product portfolio, strategic positioning, and development pipeline in HIV. The report features an in-depth discussion of leading brands including approval history, sales and market position, SWOT analysis, and strategy initiatives.
• Physician Perception of Key Brands: Analysis of physician perceptions of the HIV market based on a custom survey of 50 US-based infectious disease specialists. The survey is brand-focused and examines physician perceptions of key competitors, brand attributes, and uptake of emerging agents.
• Epidemiology: Total prevalent and diagnosed cases for each of the major markets are presented in an annualized forecast from 2006 to 2011.
• Market Forecast: Annualized sales forecasts for branded agents presented by region, drug class, molecule, and brand for 2006 to 2011, including the uptake of new agents.