Pharyngitis, commonly referred to as sore throat, causes inflammation of pharynx located behind the throat. Pharyngitis is caused by bacterial or viral infections and cases of pharyngitis are majorly observed in colder months of the year. Measles, adenovirus, chickenpox, croup, whooping cough, and group A streptococcus are the major causes of pharyngitis. Pharyngitis is also commonly caused by viral infections such as common cold, influenza, and mononucleosis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), amoxicillin and penicillin are the most commonly prescribed treatments for sore throat.

Pharyngitis treatment is majorly based on the symptoms, depending the cause of pharyngitis for example, bacterial, fungal, and herpes simplex infections. The common symptoms of pharyngitis include sneezing, runny nose, headache, cough, fatigue, body aches, chills, and fever. Additionally, strep throat condition also occurs, which may lead to difficulty in swallowing, loss of appetite, nausea, fever, loss of taste, and swollen lymph nodes. Pain medication such as NSAIDs and acetaminophen are used to reduce the pain associated with pharyngitis. Besides, Aspirin is also used by adults, however, not recommended for children due to risk of occurrence of Reye syndrome.

Furthermore, steroids such as dexamethasone are also useful for treating pharyngitis. If the infection is caused by bacteria, then these steroids are taken with antibiotics, however, if caused by virus, antibiotics shows no positive results. Moreover, oral analgesic solutions are also prescribed with active ingredient phenol as a medication for pharyngitis. Wide range of options available for treatment of pharyngitis, in turn supports growth of the pharyngitis therapeutics market.

Pharyngitis Therapeutics Market Dynamics

According to the study published in 2016, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Pew Charitable Trusts, doctors are often prescribing the wrong antibiotics, which concluded that only 52% of the 44 million antibiotic prescribed for sinus infections, middle ear infections, and pharyngitis are the first-line drugs. Furthermore, in 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report suggesting that there is a serious lack of new antibiotics in development, underscoring that antibiotic resistance is a global health emergency set to undermine the decades of progress in modern medicine.

Therefore, manufactures are increasingly focusing on research and development for new discovery of antibiotics or any other therapeutic drugs to treat pharyngitis. For instance, Innovative Med Concepts, Inc. is in the process of developing a promising treatment for pharyngitis i.e the company’s second novel product NRP-1—a proprietary throat spray—is designed to treat viral pharyngitis, which is expected to serve the large unmet medical needs and cause of most cases of pharyngitis. NRP-1 will also provide the required relief for cancer patients undergoing head and neck radiation plagued with disabling oral mucositis/pharyngitis. This spray delivers medication, which then adheres to the posterior pharynx despite repeated swallows and saliva.

Pharyngitis Therapeutics Market - Regional Insights

North America accounted for the largest share in the global pharyngitis therapeutics market, followed by Europe market in 2016. This is attributed to increasing prevalence of pharyngitis in North America. According to data published in American Family Physician Journal in 2009, pharyngitis is diagnosed in 11 million people in outpatient settings, each year in the U.S.

Furthermore, several pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies are focusing on expanding in the Asia Pacific region, to maximize their R&D efforts, as the Asia Pacific region provides low capital investment in research and development due to lower operational cost and highly efficient technicians. Increasing government investment in research and development is also expected to foster growth of the pharyngitis therapeutics market in Asia Pacific. As Group A Streptococcus is the most common disease caused in settings of poverty, where transmission of an organism is possible due to the poor living conditions. Hence Asia Pacific region provides a high opportunity for drug manufacturers in pharyngitis therapeutics market.

Pharyngitis Therapeutics Market - Competitive Analysis

Major players operating in the market include Genentech Inc., Adamas Pharmaceutical Inc., PLIVA HRVATSKA d.o.o., Pfizer Inc., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Mylan N.V., GSK group of companies, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and AbbVie Inc.

Pharyngitis Therapeutics Market - Taxonomy:

By Source of Infection:

Viral
Bacterial

By Drug Class:

Antiviral Drugs
Antibacterial Drugs
Anti-inflammatory Drugs
Topical Anesthetics Drugs

By Distribution Channel:

Hospital Pharmacy
Retail Pharmacy
Online Pharmacy

By Region:

North America
Latin America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Middle East
Africa

About Author

Ghanshyam Shrivastava - With over 20 years of experience in the management consulting and research, Ghanshyam Shrivastava serves as a Principal Consultant, bringing extensive expertise in biologics and biosimilars. His primary expertise lies in areas such as market entry and expansion strategy, competitive intelligence, and strategic transformation across diversified portfolio of various drugs used for different therapeutic category and APIs. He excels at identifying key challenges faced by clients and providing robust solutions to enhance their strategic decision-making capabilities. His comprehensive understanding of the market ensures valuable contributions to research reports and business decisions.

Ghanshyam is a sought-after speaker at industry conferences and contributes to various publications on pharma industry.