Shire's Vyvanse projected to gain blockbuster status by 2017

UK drugmaker Shire's recently-launched stimulant Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine) will become only the third blockbuster in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, helping to ensure that the firm's impressive ADHD portfolio will dominate this market through 2017, according to research and advisory company Decision Resources.

The new Pharmacor report, titled Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder finds that Vyvanse will garner $1.2 billion in sales in 2017, owing in large part to the drug's robust efficacy, its approval for both children and adults, as well as its lower abuse potential compared with other first-line psychostimulants.

Vyvanse and other Shire products, including Daytrana (methylphenidate) and the emerging non-stimulant agent Intuniv (guanfacine), will help secure the company's dominance of the ADHD sector, where it will hold a commanding 44% total market share in 2017 in the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan, the report states. Shire's dominance will be maintained in spite of steep losses to generic competition in 2009 in the USA for its market-leading product, Adderall XR (amphetamine salts), it concludes.