India and China's Gastrointe?stinal Treatment Markets to Witness Impressive Growth by 2019, Amid Period of Global Decline

The gastrointestinal (GI) therapeutics market for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region will increase in value from $564 million in 2012 to $784 million by 2019, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.8%, according to a new report from business intelligence provider GBI Research.

The company’s latest report* states that in the APAC region, comprising Australia, India, China and Japan, India will experience the fastest growth during the forecast period, with a higher CAGR of 7.7%. This will be followed by the Chinese market, which is expected to achieve a CAGR of 6.4%.

This increase will occur at a time when the global GI market value is anticipated to decline from $6.8 billion in 2012 to $6.6 billion by 2019, at a negative CAGR of 0.3%, because of major patent expiries.

Arti Singh, Analyst for GBI Research, says: “As the most populated countries in the world, China and India account for a large usage of these drugs. Indeed, one of the major reasons behind the market growth in these locations, besides upcoming product launches, is a high number of patients, which will ultimately boost the size of the overall region’s GI market.”

However, any further revenue increase will be hindered by various barriers, including low diagnosis rates, the patent expiry of major marketed drugs, such as Humira, and reduced prescription of branded medicine.

Singh continues: “In the APAC region, especially in China, most of the GI market consists of herbal and other traditional Chinese medicines, resulting in very low market penetration for branded medicines.

“There is also limited uptake of branded drugs in India, thanks to large prescriptions of generics, branded generics and herbal treatments instead, which will impede the region’s GI market ability to achieve greater sales by 2019,” the analyst concludes.

*Gastrointestinal Therapeutics in Asia-Pacific Markets to 2019 — Strong Potential for Pipeline Biologics on Account of High Regional Unmet Need