Global biosimilar drug revenues will reach $2,445 million in 2013, says Visiongain

The world market for biosimilar drugs will be worth $2,445 million in 2013, growing by more than 20% from 2012, according to a new report from Visiongain. In 2013 it will account for around 2% of the overall biological drugs market, and the study forecasts rapid growth to 2023 for the global biosimilars market.

The launch of more biosimilars worldwide, but particularly in the USA and European Union, will drive that sales growth. These predictions and other forecasts appear in Biosimilars and Follow-On Biologics: World Market 2013-2023, published in April 2013.

Fastest growth will be in the biosimilar monoclonal antibodies and insulin submarkets. Two companies - CellTrion and Hospira - submitted biosimilar antibody approval applications to the European Medicines Agency in 2012. Those products will be launched in the European Union in 2014, Visiongain predicts. From 2014, many companies will try to launch monoclonal antibody biosimilars, with most targeting Roche's Rituxan (rituximab) and Herceptin (trastuzumab), and Remicade (infliximab, Johnson & Johnson/Merck & Co/Mitsubishi Tanabe) for competition. By 2023, biosimilar monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and insulin products will account for 57% of the global biosimilars market, the study also predicts.