THYROID CANCER DRUGS MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Challenges And Opportunities

Thyroid Cancer Drugs Market Drivers

Increasing prevalence of thyroid cancer is expected to drive growth of the thyroid cancer drugs market. For instance, according to National Cancer Institute (NCI), 2013-2015 data findings, around1.2% of men and women are expected to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer at some point during their lifetime, in the U.S. Moreover, according to the NCI 2018 data findings, in 2018, there were an estimated 53,990 new cases of thyroid cancer and an estimated 2,060 people are expected to die due to thyroid cancer, in the U.S. Moreover, according to Cancer Research UK, 2015 data findings, in the U.K. there were 3,528 new cases of thyroid cancer registered in 2015. According to the same source, thyroid cancer accounted to register 1% of all cancer cases in 2015, which includes 27% of thyroid cancer cases in males, and 73% in females, in the U.K. Furthermore, according to Cancer Research UK, the lifetime risk of developing thyroid cancer is around 1 in 480 for men and around 1 in 180 for women, in 2012 in the U.K.  

In 2016, according to the American Cancer Society, anaplastic thyroid cancer accounts for 2% of all thyroid cancers, in North America. FDA granted several programs, in order to increase availability of drugs to treat serious diseases. In May 2018, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a combination of two targeted drugs, dabrafenib plus trametinib, to treat patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer. The combination of Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib) is the first FDA approved treatment for these type of thyroid cancers. Moreover, in 2015, FDA approved Lenvatinib for the treatment of locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. In November 2013, U.S. FDA approved Nexavar (sorafenib) to treat patients with Stage IV thyroid cancer. Moreover, the drug is already present in the market for the treatment of liver and kidney cancer.

Furthermore, thyroid cancer drug rejection, owing to incompetence of drug in providing efficient output to thyroid cancer patients, is expected to be a major restraining factor for growth of market. For instance, in October 2017, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), rejected Bayer’s Nexavar and Eisai’s Lenvima in thyroid cancer, stating that neither of this drugs are cost-effective against thyroid cancer treatment.   

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