Thomson Reuters Names 2014 Drugs to Watch

• Analysis points to three potential blockbusters: Sovaldi, Anoro Ellipta and Idelalisib entering market this year

PHILADELPHIA, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters, the world's leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, released its annual forecast of the leading drugs to watch in 2014, including three potential blockbuster treatments anticipated to attain more than $1 billion in sales through 2019, after entering the marketplace this year.

The study utilized Cortellis™ Competitive Intelligence, the pharmaceutical industry's leading source for drug pipeline, deals, patents, and company content, to create a Market Insight report identifying drugs that will have a significant impact on the marketplace in 2014 and for years to come.

The analysis points to three potential blockbuster drugs:

• Sovaldi: Gilead's oral NS5B ploymersase inhibitor for treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) was approved by the FDA in December 2013 and is expected to reach a consensus of $2.4 billion in sales in 2014, rising to its peak in sales in an estimated $9.1 billion in 2017.
• Anoro Ellipta: GlaxoSmithKline/Theravance's Anoro Ellipta, which contains two bronchodilators for the long-term, once-daily maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which is predicted to outsell its developers' 2013 potential blockbuster Relovair in the COPD field, with forecasted sales of $3 billion through 2019.
• Idelalisib: Gilead filed this oral P13K p110-delta subunit inhibitor for US approval for indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in September 2013 and for European approval for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and INHL in October 2013. A US filing for CLL is also planned. This treatment demonstrated significant efficacy in a phase III CLL trial; however, idelalisib faces stiff competition in the CLL marketplace.

"These treatments are expected to be the highest performing from our list of drugs to watch in 2014," said Charlotte Jago, a senior editor for the Thomson Reuters Life Science business, and author of the Market Insight report. "That is not to say, however, that these are the only drugs of high potential this year. To the contrary, there are several other therapies we've identified and which are also worth keeping an eye on."

Among those worthy of additional attention are Eli Lilly's long-acting GLP-1 analog dulaglutide for diabetes and its anti-VEGFR2 mAb Cyramza for gastric cancer, as well as MannKind's inhaled insulin product Afrezza. This will be the third filing for Afrezza since 2009, after the FDA twice requested further information.

"It is interesting to watch the transformation from yesterday's blockbuster drug era to that of the current environment, where precision medicine and drug repositioning are on center stage," said Jon Brett-Harris, managing director, Thomson Reuters Life Sciences. "That said, we see three strong potentials of blockbuster caliber this year. As the pharmaceutical industry searches for replacement revenue streams, our Drugs to Watch report is a valuable tool for identifying therapies that have blockbuster potential, as well as other drugs with strong revenue indicators.."

The Thomson Reuters Market Insight report also includes an update on the 2013 Drugs to Watch, including Vascepa (Amarin), Pomalyst (Celgene), Kadcyla (Roche), and Relovair (GlaxoSmithKline, Thervance).

View the Market Insight report or visit the Thomson Reuters Life Science Connect blog for a synopsis of the report and for other posts providing a view into the Life Sciences industry's latest news and trends.

Learn more about Cortellis for Competitive Intelligence.