Global biosimilar market to increase 5 times by 2023

The global biosimilar market has witnessed a double-digit growth over past few years. Factors such as increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases, savings for governments and third party-payers, and incentives for pharmacists have been proactive in propelling the market growth.

The demand for biosimilars has been increasing in recent years as they help in reducing the overall cost of the treatment for a variety of chronic diseases including cancers, autoimmune diseases, kidney failure, diabetes, CVDs, haematological disorders, infectious diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and growth hormone deficiency etc. 

According to the recent report by IMARC Group, entitled “Biosimilar Market Report and Forecast 2018-2023”, the global biosimilar market size was estimated to be US$ 2.9 Billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of more than 36% during 2012-2017. Biosimilars, also known as subsequent entry biologics (SEBs) or follow-on biologics, refer to FDA-approved biotherapeutic products which are similar to their reference biologics. Biosimilars can only be manufactured after the patent of the reference product expires. 

Global Biosimilar Market Drivers

Recent patent expiries of a large number of blockbuster biological drugs such as Humira, Remicade, MabThera, Enbrel, etc. have majorly boosted the growth of the biosimilar market. Another major growth-inducing factor is the ageing population which has led to a rise in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases. Further, high costs of innovator biologics, especially monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), have encouraged several governments across the globe to promote the usage of biosimilars. For instance, European countries like the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have established strategic models for discount pricing and introduced numerous incentive programs. Apart from this, biosimilars do not require extensive marketing as the safety and efficacy profile of biologics has already been established. This has resulted in the low cost of these drugs in comparison to their branded counterparts, in turn, spurring their demand worldwide.

Due to the abovementioned factors, the market is projected to expand at a CAGR of more than 30% during 2018-2023, registering a value of US$ 15.6 Billion by 2023.

Market Size 

Auto-Immune Diseases are leading for the demand of biosimilars in the global market followed by blood disorder, diabetes, oncology, growth deficiency and female infertility. In the study Europe was found to be the biggest market for biosimilars followed by the USA, Japan, India and South Korea. 

(With inputs from IMARC Group)