Atopic Dermatitis - A high level of unmet need creates market opportunities

Atopic dermatitis is a skin disorder characterized by intense itch, dry skin and redness. Often considered a benign disease, it actually impacts very negatively on quality of life, sometimes more than psoriasis and diabetes. Through opinion leader interviews, Datamonitor has identified a high level of unmet need in atopic dermatitis treatment and believe that a number of market opportunities exist.

About 40 million patients suffer from atopic dermatitis in the seven major markets. There is a high level of unmet need and market opportunities exist for safer systemic therapies and effective drugs for itch. However, high drug cost will be a significant barrier to entry to the market and companies must also increase focus on patient education.

Future entrants to the atopic dermatitis market will benefit from the strategies used by Novartis for Elidel such as a rapid global rollout and broad marketing campaign. Approval across all possible patient segments will ensure greatest sales potential. Choice of topical formulation is another important issue that companies must address.

The late stage atopic dermatitis pipeline is empty and lacks innovation. In contrast, there are a number of Phase II products looking to fill the gap in the market for effective non-steroidal therapies, left by Protopic and Elidel. Despite a need for systemic therapies, Datamonitor expects the overall demand for topical therapies will remain high.

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