Prevalence of infectious diseases to propel antibiotics market to reach $ 57 bn

Rising prevalence of infectious diseases especially in developing regions such as Asia Pacific and MEA (Middle East & Africa) is expected to propel the global market of antibiotics to reach $ 57 billion by 2024 from $ 39.8 billion in 2015, according to the new report by Grand View Research Inc (GVR).

More than 15 percent of the deaths, in children below the age of five, are estimated to be due to pneumonia and according to the statistics provided by the WHO about 9.2 million deaths were recorded in 2015. Similar to tuberculosis, the highest prevalence of the disease is identified to be in the South Asian and Sub-Saharan regions. Currently, the required antibiotic treatment is available only to one third of the infected population, thereby increasing the disease burden.

As per GVR report, government reforms specific to antibiotics such as the Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now (GAIN) Act in the US are projected to help market growth. This further expected facilitate development of advanced drugs.

On the contrary, uncertain regulatory policies are likely to hinder the growth of this vertical impacting market growth significantly. In 2013, the US FDA revised the guidance for registration trials for drugs used in the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. The guidance states the use of short term measures of anti-infective efficacy (percent reduction in lesion size at 48 to 72 hours) as opposed to long term measures such as resolution of infection at 10-14 days, which is termed as Test to Cure or TOC.

Antibiotic segment including tetracyclines, imidazoles, lincosamides and monoclonal antibodies held commanding share in 2015 and are also anticipated to grow at a lucrative growth rate over in the near future.

Development of monoclonal antibodies for antibiotic resistant microorganism is key highlight of this segment. Increasing incidences of pneumonia, blood stream infections, and urinary tract infections (UTI) are anticipated to foster the usage of carbapenems class of antibiotics.

Cell wall synthesis inhibitors dominated the mechanism outlook in 2015. Majority of the antibiotics such as penicillins, cephalosporins and carbapenems forms the cell wall synthesis inhibitor class.

RNA synthesis inhibitors as well as folic acid synthesis inhibitors are anticipated to witness healthy growth over the forecast period. Development of several antiviral drugs which inhibit transcription and reverse transcription process are anticipated to support the growth. Folic acid inhibitor sulfa drugs are anticipated to grow as they have wide application scope.

Asia Pacific on account of huge population base, high prevalence of infectious diseases, regulation reforms and greater usage of generic medicine held commanding share in 2015. 

Latin America, especially Brazil with its strong growth in the pharmaceuticals sector is also projected to exhibit remunerative growth. Outbreak of certain viruses such as Ebola in African region also contributed towards the significant growth of MEA region.