Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics: Types and Prognosis

The antibiotics market generated sales of US$42 billion in 2009 all inclusive, representing 46% of sales of anti-infective agents (which additionally incorporate antiviral medications and vaccines) and 5% of the worldwide pharmaceutical market. However, the antibiotics market is maturing; it demonstrated a normal yearly development of 4% in the course of recent years, contrasted and a development of 16.7% and of 16.4% for antiviral medications and vaccines, individually.

The cephalosporin class of antibiotics is the biggest in terms of sells, producing $11.9 billion in 2009, drove by sales the latest generation of medications in this class (cefcapene (Flomox; Shionogi), ceftriaxone (Rocephin; Roche) and cefuroxime (Zinnat; GlaxoSmithKline).

This class represents 28% of the aggregate antibiotic market, and sales demonstrated a development of 3.4% in the course of recent years. With sales of $7.9 billion and 19% of the antibiotic market share in 2010, the second largest medication class is the broad-spectrum penicillins, which demonstrated a development of 5% in the vicinity of 2005 and 2012. The third biggest medication class — the fluoroquinolones — had sales of $7.1 billion in 2013, representing 17% of the antibiotic market in 2013. By contrast, as  as generic versions of an increasing number of macrolides — which had $4.8 billion in sales in 2012 — became available, sales of this class declined by 5% between 2012 and 2014. Overall, the rate of patent expiry of driving antibiotics in the market is set to increase, with a few of the present top selling items confronting patent expiry in the vicinity of 2010 and 2016. These include levofloxacin (Levaquin; Johnson and Johnson), moxifloxacin (Avelox; Bayer/Merck) and linezolid (Zyvox; Pfizer), which are relied upon to lose patent insurance in 2011, 2014 and 2016, respectively.