LEPROSY TREATMENT MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Challenges And Opportunities

As per National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP), leprosy has been broadly categorized into two segments namely, paucibacillary leprosy (one to five skin lesions, maximum one nerve with skin liaisons) and multibacillary leprosy (over six skin liaisons, more than one nerve with skin liaisons). Early detection of the disease is an important factor for effective treatment, though various drugs are available for late stage leprosy patients. The most common treatment is multidrug therapy. The drugs recommended by WHO multidrug therapy are rifampicin, dapsone, and clofazimine. Among these, rifampicin is most preferred for treatment of leprosy. Treatment with everyday dapsone and monthly treatment with rifampicin for six months is followed for paucibacillary (PB or tuberculoid) cases. For multibacillary (MB or lepromatous) cases, the treatment is a prolonged one. It includes daily dapsone and clofazimine. Additionally, monthly rifampicin is recommended for 12 months.  Side effects, resistance, and relapse rate are low in multidrug therapy. Some of the other drugs available for leprosy treatment are Rifadine and Rimactane. The leprosy treatment market is projected to witness a steep incline in the number of novel drugs and availability of the same, due to increasing initiatives across the globe to eradicate this menace.