Anti-TNF drug sales to hit $1.3B by 2015

US market research publisher Decision Resources says that the launch of both Abbott Laboratories' Humira (adalimumab) and Belgian drugmaker UCB's Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for the treatment of Crohn's disease will drive sales of the anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha class to more than double their 2005 value of $660.0 million. The firm forecast that such therapies would achieve sales of more than $1.3 billion by 2015.

The findings, which are presented in a new Pharmacor report, "Crohn's Disease," indicate that the launch of the drugs, Humira is already approved in the USA and Europe while Cimzia is due to reach the market in 2007, combined with the late-stage development of several additional high-priced biological agents, will usher in a new era of expansion in the market to treat CD. The forecast includes developmental agents like Berlex/Schering AG's Leukine (sargramostim) and Abbott's ABT-874 (fully-human anti-interleukin-12 monoclonal antibody), both of which are designed to treat patients who are failed by anti-TNF therapies. Decision Resources predicts that Humira will be rapidly adopted by gastroenterologists and will eventually supplant Schering-Plough's Remicade (infliximab) as the market leader by 2015.