Rheumatoid Arthritis Market in Southeast Asia "to Reach $1.44 Billion by 2022"

The rheumatoid arthritis market in Southeast Asia-covering South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia-is set to grow from $1.04 billion in 2015 to $1.44 billion by 2022, according to business intelligence provider GBI Research.   The company’s latest report states that the entry of new therapies over the forecast period will stimulate market growth. Promising pipeline candidates include Eli Lilly and Incyte’s baricitinib, Regeneron’s sarilumab, GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson’s sirukumab, Astellas’ peficitinib, and AbbVie’s upadacitinib. Galapagos’ filgotinib is in late-stage development, but will not be launched during the forecast period, as its Phase III trial completion date is in Q3 2020.   Over the forecast period, novel oral JAK inhibitors in the form of Eli Lilly/Incyte’s baricitinib and Astellas’ peficitinib are expected to be launched in South Korea and Taiwan; AbbVie’s upadacitinib (another JAK inhibitor) is expected to be launched in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan; Regeneron’s IL-6 inhibitor sarilumab is expected to launch in South Korea and Taiwan; and Johnson & Johnson/GSK’s sirukumab (another IL-6 inhibitor) is expected to launch in Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan.   Although the market is crowded with multiple effective biologic therapies, it lacks curative treatments. Instead, treatments aim to alleviate symptoms and reduce disease progression. This major unmet need is not expected to be addressed directly by any of the pipeline agents, and any that are successfully approved and launched will compete for the same patient populations.