Friday, September 21, 2007

New treatments will drive fibromyalgia market forward

Editorial comment, www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com

There are currently more than 20 drugs in development for the potential treatment of fibromyalgia. This number is expected to grow over the coming years as the predicted success of new drugs such as Lyrica, as well as a better-defined regulatory pathway and patient population, encourages other companies to consider investment.Compounds in development consist mainly of centrally acting small molecule therapies.

Although the cause of fibromyalgia is still unknown, the latest research suggests that fibromyalgia pain does not originate from trauma, inflammation, or nerve damage, but seems to be due to a disturbance in pain processing that originates in the brain.

Following closely behind Lyrica in terms of development is Eli Lilly's antidepressant Cymbalta. In August 2007, Lilly filed a supplemental new drug application to the FDA and Datamonitor expects Cymbalta to be approved for fibromyalgia treatment by 2008.

With additional Phase III trials being conducted, Datamonitor predicts Forest/Cypress's milnacipran will be the third drug approved by the FDA for this indication in 2008. Several other candidates in late-stage development offer further promise for fibromyalgia patients, including sodium oxybate, lacosamide, rotigotine, reboxetine and radafaxine.

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