Abstract
This chapter of CNS Drug Discoveries focuses on the Alzheimer' s disease and
Parkinson' s disease sectors of the market for neurodegenerative drugs.
Approximately US$6.6 billion was spent in 2005 on the symptomatic treatment of
Alzheimer' s disease (AD) and Parkinson' s disease (PD). Although these
neurodegenerative diseases only affect around 1% of the population their
prevalence increases with age, thus these diseases are likely to become more
commonplace due to patient demographics and become a greater burden on health
care services.
Global Alzheimer' s and Parkinson' s market In 2005, approximately 45% of AD/PD
sales were derived from the US compared to 36% in Europe and the remainder
(19%) in international markets including Japan. The sale of AD and PD
medication varies between each country, for example 55% of AD drug sales are
derived from the US compared to 31% of PD drug sales. The treatment of AD
patients is dominated by the use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors such as
Aricept (Eisai), Exelon (Novartis) and Razadyne (Johnson & Johnson) although
the use of the NMDA receptor antagonist Namenda/Ebixa (Forest/Lundbeck) is
gaining acceptance, particularly in the treatment of moderate to severe AD. In
contrast, PD patients are treated with a cocktail of drugs but predominantly
with dopaminergic drugs such as Levodopa and/or dopamine agonists either as a
monotherapy or in combination with catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT)
inhibitors or monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors.
Over the next six years, we forecast the market will undergo a new wave of
treatments as the first disease-modifying agents (those that address the
underlying cause of the diseases rather than the symptoms) are launched. These
include Alzhemed (Neurochem), Flurizan (Myriad Genetics) and phenserine
(Axonyx) for the treatment of AD and spheramine (Schering AG) for the
treatment of PD.
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