[Stitcher]

Drug Candidates In Pipeline Offer Potential For Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Market, Says Frost & Sullivan

Pharmaceutical Online, December 10, 2009, Frost & Sullivan

http://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/article.mvc/Drug-Candidates-In-Pipeline-Offer-Potential-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

London/PRNewswire/ -- The Parkinson's disease therapeutics market in 2008 amounted to over $1B in the European Union (EU), which includes total sales of carbidopa/levodopa, dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors, COMT inhibitors and anticholinergics used for disease symptom relief. With the introduction of newer dopamine agonists as well as fresh recommendations and treatment guidelines that call for using dopamine agonists as first-line therapy, the market is experiencing a shift away from the use of carbidopa/levodopa.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.pharma.frost.com), European Markets for Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics, finds that the market earned revenues of over $1.28B in 2008 and estimates this to reach $2.28B in 2015.

"Although prescriptions for Sinemet and Sinemet controlled release (CR) continue to be written to a large extent, dopamine agonists prescriptions are increasing as well," says Frost & Sullivan Programme manager Paljit Sohal. "Other drugs account for a relatively small portion of the total prescriptions, while some, such as the catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors are directly linked with Sinemet prescriptions."

[paula_w]

Does this answer everyone 's questions about Merck "redistributing" sinemet in Europe?

paula

Originally Posted by Stitcher

Drug Candidates In Pipeline Offer Potential For Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Market, Says Frost & Sullivan

Pharmaceutical Online, December 10, 2009, Frost & Sullivan

http://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/article.mvc/Drug-Candidates-In-Pipeline-Offer-Potential-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

London/PRNewswire/ -- The Parkinson's disease therapeutics market in 2008 amounted to over $1B in the European Union (EU), which includes total sales of carbidopa/levodopa, dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors, COMT inhibitors and anticholinergics used for disease symptom relief. With the introduction of newer dopamine agonists as well as fresh recommendations and treatment guidelines that call for using dopamine agonists as first-line therapy, the market is experiencing a shift away from the use of carbidopa/levodopa.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.pharma.frost.com), European Markets for Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics, finds that the market earned revenues of over $1.28B in 2008 and estimates this to reach $2.28B in 2015.

"Although prescriptions for Sinemet and Sinemet controlled release (CR) continue to be written to a large extent, dopamine agonists prescriptions are increasing as well," says Frost & Sullivan Programme manager Paljit Sohal. "Other drugs account for a relatively small portion of the total prescriptions, while some, such as the catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors are directly linked with Sinemet prescriptions."

[Conductor71]

Originally Posted by Stitcher

[B]
London/PRNewswire/ -- The Parkinson's disease therapeutics market in 2008 amounted to over $1B in the European Union (EU), which includes total sales of carbidopa/levodopa, dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors, COMT inhibitors and anticholinergics used for disease symptom relief. With the introduction of newer dopamine agonists as well as fresh recommendations and treatment guidelines that call for using dopamine agonists as first-line therapy, the market is experiencing a shift away from the use of carbidopa/levodopa.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.pharma.frost.com), European Markets for Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics, finds that the market earned revenues of over $1.28B in 2008 and estimates this to reach $2.28B in 2015.

What I find odd is that no one can seem to pinpoint how many people have PD worldwide yet pharmaceuticals know how much Sinemet will create a shortage and the business market can predict sales of the entire family of PD drugs- am I missing something, or don't they need to have a figure in mind as to how many people need Sinemet or agonists prescriptions in the first place? I know this only accounts for people who are under medical care and have received a diagnosis, but it seems a good place to start in tracking numbers. Keeping in mind that agonists like Mirapex are used to treat Restless Leg Syndrome, and they are still able to differentiate use between PWP and RLS people.

Laura