Epilepsy Market Sees Strong Growth

The epilepsy market remains a dynamic $2 billion global growth category,with the number of US prescriptions being written showing healthy mid-teen growth and a 20%-25% sales increase driven by higher-priced new therapies as well as expanded use in new indications such as bipolar depression, noted analyst Kenneth Kulju of UBS.

Selected established agents are showing robust gains, so that Warner-Lambert and Abbott Laboratories should continue to thrive in the current market, based on the expansion in the respective Neurontin (gabapentin) and Depakote (divalproex sodium) lines. There is also considerable opportunity for new entrants, Mr Kulju feels, so that emerging new products are compelling earnings drivers for a number of recent entrants to the category, such as Elan, through its Athena Neurosciences division, Glaxo Wellcome and Johnson & Johnson.

Emergence Of New Products Boosts Revenues After a lull of almost 20 years in the development of antiepileptic products, new drugs with potential utility as anticonvulsants as well as in other neurological indications are emerging.