INTERFERON BETA DRUGS MARKET ANALYSIS

The global interferon beta drugs market is estimated to be valued at US$ 4.22 Bn in 2023 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 4.0% during the forecast period (2023-2030).

Analysts’ Views on Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market:

An increasing number of research and development and drug discovery activities are expected to boost the growth of the global interferon beta drugs market over the forecast period. For instance, on January 4, 2023, scientists working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a hospital that conducts hospital-based research programs, developed a bifunctional whole cancer cell–based therapeutic with direct tumor killing and immunostimulatory roles. The scientists repurposed the tumor cells from interferon-β (IFN-β) sensitive to resistant using CRISPR-Cas9 by knocking out the IFN-β–specific receptor and subsequently engineered them to release the immunomodulatory agents IFN-β and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

Figure 1. Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market Share (%), by Product Type, 2023

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Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market – Driver

• Increasing research and development activities: The growing research and development activities are a major factor leading to the high demand for interferon beta drugs. For instance, in October 2022, Synairgen plc, the respiratory company developing SNG001, an investigational formulation for inhalation containing the broad-spectrum antiviral protein interferon beta to treat or prevent severe viral lung infections, today announced topline data for participants treated with SNG001 in the US National Institutes of Health (NIH)/AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG)-led ACTIV-2 Phase 2 adaptive platform trial for COVID-19.

• Product approvals by regulatory authorities of respective countries: The increasing product approvals by regulatory authorities in respective countries can drive the growth of the global interferon beta drugs market. For instance, in 2021, Faron Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced that the U.S. FDA has approved the phase 2 and 3 ‘HIBISCUS’ trial assessing its intravenous IFN beta-1a ‘Traumakine’ for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The company has said that based on the study, Traumakine would be used before the current practice of corticosteroids to prevent systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), improve the clinical condition, and reduce patient death.

Figure 2. Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market Share (%), by Region, 2023

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Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market - Regional Analysis

Among regions, North America is estimated to hold a dominant position in the global interferon beta drugs market over the forecast period. This is due to the increasing research and development using beta interferons in the region. For instance, according to an article by Northwestern Medicine, a non-profit healthcare system affiliated with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, U.S., in April 2022, scientists have discovered a novel signaling pathway activated by beta interferons, a group of immune system proteins, that suppresses the anti-tumor response of interferons in patients with a particular type of blood cancer.

Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market – Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

• Since the COVID-19 virus outbreak in December 2019, the disease has spread to over 100 countries across the globe, and the World Health Organization declared it a public health emergency on January 30, 2020.
• COVID-19 affected the economy in three main ways: by directly affecting the production and demand of drugs, by creating disruptions in distribution channels, and through its financial impact on firms and financial markets. Due to nationwide lockdowns, several countries, such as China, India, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Egypt, and others, are facing problems with the transportation of drugs from one place to another.
• However, the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the global interferon beta drugs market. This is because of the boost in research and development activities that occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, research conducted by a group of scientists at Synairgen Research, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, U.K., found that inhaled nebulized interferon beta-1a (SNG001), a drug used for multiple sclerosis, helped COVID-19 patients have greater odds of improvement and recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study was published in November 2020 in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, a hybrid journal that offers authors of original research with funding that requires open access publication either a gold open access or a subscription green open access solution for their submission.

Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market Segmentation:

The global interferon beta drugs market report is segmented into product type, route of administration, distribution channel, and region.

• By product type, the market is segmented into interferon beta-1a, interferon beta-1b, and peginterferon beta-1a. Out of which, the interferon beta-1a  segment is expected to hold a dominant position in the global interferon beta drugs market during the forecast period, and this is attributed to the increasing product approvals in this segment.
• By route of administration, the market is segmented into intramuscular, subcutaneous, and intravenous. Out of which, the intramuscular segment is expected to hold a dominant position in the global interferon beta drugs market during the forecast period, and this is attributed to the ease of administration that this segment offers.
• By distribution channel, the market is segmented into hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, and online pharmacies. Out of which, the hospital pharmacies segment is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period, and this is attributed to the availability interferon beta drugs in hospitals.
• By region, the market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. Out of which, the North America segment is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period, and this is attributed to the increasing product launches in the region.

Among all the segments, the product type segment has the highest potential due to the launches of new products across the world over the forecast period. For instance, in May 2020, EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved the inclusion of new safety data on pregnancy and breastfeeding in the prescribing information for Rebif (interferon beta-1a), in accordance with the FDA's Pregnancy and Lactation Labeling Rule (PLLR).

Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market Cross Sectional Analysis:

Among product type, interferon beta-1A is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period in the Europe region. For instance, on November 19, 2022, according to an article published in Neuro-Oncology, a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering cancer of the nervous system, published by Oxford University Press in the U.K., adding interferon beta- 1A to adjuvant temozolomide radiotherapy prolongs survival in high-grade glioma.

Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market: Key Developments

• In June 2022, Astellas Pharma Inc., a Japan-based multinational pharmaceutical company, and Sutro Biopharma, Inc., a public biotechnology company, entered a global strategic partnership and licensing agreement to discover and develop new immunostimulatory antibody-drug conjugates (iADCs).
• In November 2022, Nektar, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies that selectively modulate the immune system to treat autoimmune disorders, announced the first presentation of preclinical data for NKTR-288 at the 2022 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), an organization specifically dedicated to improving cancer patient outcomes, annual meeting. NKTR-288 is a novel polyethylene glycol (PEG)-conjugate of interferon gamma (IFN-γ), designed to modify the binding of IFN-γ to its substrates and optimize the duration of IFN-γ signaling. The presentation showed the sustained pharmacological properties of NKTR-288 relative to native cytokines, including durable exposure and induction of the well-characterized interferon gamma response.
• On December 11, 2022, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a Japan-based multinational pharmaceutical company, announced that their investigational new drug (IND) known as modakafusp has shown early potential in combating multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer. Modakafusp is a fusion protein that targets interferon (a pro-inflammatory hormone that is also used for treating viral infections and other cancers) to cells that have CD38, a surface marker present on myeloma cells and a variety of immune cells.

Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market: Key Trends

• Increasing drug discovery and drug development activities: Increasing drug discovery and drug development activities help propel the growth of the global interferon beta drugs market. According to an article published on April 12, 2023, in The Lancet Haematology, an internationally trusted source of clinical, public health, and global health knowledge, interferon beta-2b was found to be effective for low-grade lymphomatoid granulomatosis. The article also stated that an immunotherapy-based approach for low-grade disease was effective and improved survival compared with historical treatments such as chemotherapy and corticosteroids. The increasing prevalence of multiple sclerosis and its types can cause the growth of the global interferon beta drugs market. According to an article published in June 2022 by PubMed, a free search engine for biological databases, primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) occurs in around 10% to 15% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), the approximate prevalence of PPMS in the U.S. was 100,000 to 150,000 adults in 2021.

Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market: Restraint

• Inefficiencies to treat COVID- 19: In an international open-label trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society, interferon beta-1a does not reduce mortality, hospitalization duration, or ventilation initiation in coronavirus disease 2019 patients. As a part of the study, 11,266 patients from hospitals between March 22 and October 4, 2020, in 30 countries were randomly assigned to receive either remdesivir (n=2750), hydroxychloroquine (n=954), lopinavir (n=1411), interferon (n=2063), or no trial drug (n=4088). This restraint can be overcome by the introduction of the drug as a treatment against COVID-19, but only after the recommendation of the consulting physician or healthcare provider.

• Potential side-effects of interferon therapy: Barriers like the serious and mild side-effects of interferon therapy are restraining the growth of the market. For instance, Avonex (interferon beta-1a) can have mild side effects like headaches, the common cold, dizziness, diarrhea, nausea, and chest pain. This can be overcome by taking the dose of the drug strictly as per the recommendation of the physician.

Global Interferon Beta Drugs Market - Key Players

Major players operating in the global interferon beta drugs market include Biogen, Merck KGaA, Novartis AG and Bayer AG.

*Definition: Interferon beta-1b injection is used to reduce episodes of symptoms in patients with relapsing-remitting (a course of disease where symptoms flare up from time to time) of multiple sclerosis (MS, a disease in which the nerves do not function properly and patients may experience weakness, numbness, loss of muscle coordination, and problems with vision, speech, and bladder control). Interferon beta-1b is in a class of medications called immunomodulators. It is not known exactly how interferon beta-1b works to treat MS.