Biosimilar market to reach $3.7 billion in 2015

According to a report by Datamonitor, a well-known industry analyst firm in the United Kingdom, by 2015, the global market for biosimilars will grow from 243 million US dollars in 2010 to 3.7 billion US dollars.

Datamonitor believes that many brands of biological agents will lose patent protection and market exclusivity is one of the key factors in the growth of the biosimilar market. Between 2011 and 2015, there will be more than 30 branded biological agents in the world losing their patent protection. The current market sales of these products amount to US$51 billion, paving the way for the sale of biosimilars.

"As the market share of the first-generation biologics declines, monoclonal antibody biosimilars and second-generation bioanalogues will represent high-value propositions for bioanalog manufacturers and become key factors for future market growth." Mark Hollis, an analyst at Datamonitor's pharmaceutical industry, explained in a statement.

In addition, Mr. Hollis also reminded that although the regulations for the approval of biosimilars in the United States, Europe and Japan have gradually improved, there are still many obstacles to the successful marketing of biosimilars in these mature markets.

According to Datamonitor's analysis, the existing biosimilar manufacturers have established an industry reputation and have maintained good relationships with key stakeholders. They will seize the opportunity in the future competition in the biosimilar market. Brand-name pharmaceutical companies also hope to get involved in the field of biosimilars through cooperation and mergers and acquisitions to achieve sales growth.

Therefore, Datamonitor believes that the future biosimilar market will be dominated by existing biosimilar manufacturers and branded pharmaceutical companies. At the same time, some companies from emerging markets will also participate in competition. Datamonitor believes that the biosimilar companies in emerging markets hope to participate in international market competition through cooperation with international pharmaceutical companies.