Emerging novel therapies will capture 80 percent of the total obesity market in 2016.

The obesity drug market in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan will experience more than five-fold growth, rising from $478 million in 2006 to more than $2.7 billion in 2016, according to a study conducted by Decision Resources. The United States would experience the most rapid rise where the sales will increase from $222 million in 2006 to nearly $2 billion in 2016.

This significant rise in the market will be the result of advent of a number of emerging therapies, including Arena Pharmaceutical’s lorcaserin and Amylin Pharmaceutical’s pramlintide/leptin combinations, which are expected to reach the world’s major pharmaceutical markets by 2011, opines a new Pharmacor report entitled Obesity. As the preference of the physicians will shift to novel therapies like lorcaserin, pramlintide/leptin and others, new drugs will capture 80 percent of the total obesity market in 2016, the report indicates.  

The rising concern of the Food and Drug Administration  regarding the long-term safety of drug treatments for chronic conditions such as obesity might pose significant threats to companies developing anti-obesity drugs, the report states. 

‘Given the high prevalence of obesity in the world’s major pharmaceutical markets, the opportunity for agents that fulfill the need for safe, effective and well-tolerated weight-loss therapies is significant,’ said Donny Wong, PhD, principal analyst at Decision Resources.