Subcutaneous Biologics MarketSize and Trends

Biologic, also known as biopharmaceutical, is a complex medicinal product manufactured by a biological process. Examples of biologics include blood and plasma derived products, vaccines, somatic cells and body proteins. Biologics market refers to a multibillion dollar opportunity that is expanding globally at an impressive growth rate. Most biologic products are given intravenously. However, in the past few years, a number of biologics have been developed that are given subcutaneously. The subcutaneous route of administration offers significant advantages over intravenous administration such as ease of drug administration, does not require skilled personnel for drug administration, enables at-home drug delivery and thus reduces patient time at healthcare facilities, reduced medicine cost and increased therapy compliance. Owing to aforementioned factors, the subcutaneous route of administration has gained enormous traction in recent years. Subcutaneous route of drug administration are highly effective in administering biologics such as vaccines, proteins, peptides, antibodies and other large and complex molecules.

Subcutaneous Biologics Market Taxonomy

Humira (Adalimumab), MabThera/Rituxan (Rituximab), Zytux (Rituximab), Stelara (ustekinumab), Enbrel (Etanercept)., Neulasta (filgrastim), ORENCIA (abatacept), RoACTEMRA (tocilizumab) and Herceptin (Trastuzumab) are among the major commercially available biologics that are administered through subcutaneous route. F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG announced the European Commission (EU) approval of its subcutaneous formulation of RoACTEMRA (tocilizumab) in April 2014. Amgen launched Neulasta delivery kit in 2015 to automate the delivery of drug and preventing infection in cancer patients. The global market for subcutaneous biologics has been segmented by the aforementioned biologic brands. On the basis of subcutaneous drug delivery systems, the market is categorized as:

Prefilled syringes
Wearable injectors
Auto-injectors
Drug reconstitution delivery systems.

The subcutaneous biologics market is also analyzed based on the applications as follows:

Crohn’s Disease
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Breast cancer
Leukemia
Lymphoma
Psoriasis

Increase in Awareness and the number of Diagnosed cases will Drive Demand in Developing Regions

In terms of geography, the global market for subcutaneous biologics is segmented into four major regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (RoW). There is huge healthcare spending in countries such as United States and Canada, and high prevalence of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and breast cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that the current prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (nearly 50 million Americans in 2012) will increase to 78 million by 2040. The disease also affects nearly 300,000 children in the U.S. according to RheumatoidArthritis.org. In the European region, EU-5 countries (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain) are the most potential market owing well established economy of these regions. Convenient drug delivery format is also in demand in developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America where therapy compliance is a major issue. Large undiagnosed population, inadequate access to medicines and affordability issues hinder the market growth for subcutaneous biologics in developing regions.