Antivirals "Now 9% Of Anti-Infectives Market"

Antiviral drugs represented 9% of the world market for anti-infective drug products in 1994, compared with a share of less than 1% at the beginning of the 1990s, according to a new report published this month by Datamonitor, which is available through the Marketletter offices.

Antiviral Infections, a report in the Disease Monitor: Drugs and Disease Management series, notes that antibacterials account for 80% of the total world anti-infectives market; this segment is the oldest in the pharmaceutical industry and was worth more than $17 billion in 1994. Antifungals represented 10% of sales of anti-infectives in 1994 and antiprotozoals accounted for 1%.

Market Shares of Major Anti-Virals Company Brand Generic 94 Sales $m 94 Share -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Glaxo Wellcome Zovirax aciclovir 1,394 65% Glaxo Wellcome Retrovir zidovudine 335 16% Syntex Cytovene ganciclovir 95 4% Bristol-Myers Squibb Videx didanosine 60 3% Astra Foscavir foscarnet 59 3% Roche Hivid zalcitabine 50 2% Mochida Arasena-A vidarabine 35 2% ICN Virazole/Virazid ribavirin 35 2% SmithKline Beecham Famvir famciclovir 26 1% Glaxo Wellcome Mepron/Wellvone atovaquone 15 1% Bristol-Myers Squibb Zerit stavudine/d4T 15 1% Roche Cymevene ganciclovir 4 <1% Forest Labs Flumadine rimantadine HCl 3 <1% Others 10 <1% Total 2,136 100% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Datamonitor