Statins Market In Europe Set For Growth, IMS Study Forecasts

By the year 2005, the total market for statins in the main European countries - France, western Germany, Italy and the UK - is forecast to be over 1.7 billion treatment days, worth approximately $1.46 billion at 1995 prices. In revenue terms, according to a new special study from the ZARUS (IMS Pharma Strategy Group) forecasting system, statins will have captured 78% of the hypolipidemic market by then.

The study projects the future market for HMG Co-A reductase inhibitors (statins) in Europe over 10 years. This new class of products has had a major impact on the hypolipidemic market, and the ZARUS study points out that since the launch of lovastatin (developed by Merck & Co and sold under the trade name Mevacor in most markets) in 1987, the statins had grown to capture 63% of the total market revenue by 1995.

Recently, it says, long-term studies (4S trials, West of Scotland study) have shown a clear reduction of cardiovascular mortality in patients treated with statins as a method of primary and secondary prevention. This is expected to increase the confidence of both cardiologists and general practitioners in treatment with these products, and hence the size of the market for lipid-lowering agents.