AMD and DR drug market to reach $6.25bn by 2015

There is a strong and growing market for drugs to treat the eye diseases AMD and DR, analysts say

The market for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) drugs is set to reach $6.25 billion by 2015, new research suggests.

Business information provider Visiongain has published its latest projections for the market for the period 2013-2023.

According to the company, the market has been boosted by the recent launch of Regeneron's Eylea in 2011, which is now competing with Roche/Novartis' Lucentis and Roche's Avastin for wet AMD market share.

Visiongain also noted that the R&D pipeline for eye drugs is currently strong, with new anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs and PDGF-B blockers on the horizon.

James Evans, a pharmaceutical industry analyst at Visiongain, said: "The DR market has been galvanised by the approval of Lucentis and Alimera's Iluvien in 2012, and there's plenty of room for growth in that segment."
He cited research indicating that more than 100 million people around the world have diabetic retinopathy, providing a "huge patient population" for pharmaceutical companies in the field to target.