The global Cystic Fibrosis (CF) market value in the seven major countries (7MM: the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) will jump from $1.2 billion in 2013 to just under $4.5 billion by 2019, at a massive Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 30.4 per cent, says a new report from business intelligence provider GBI Research.

According to the report, the five European Union (5EU) countries will show the most growth in the CF market, with their total value climbing from $568 million in 2013 to just over $2.2 billion by 2019, at a CAGR of 32.3 per cent. The UK and Spain will have the region’s highest CAGRs of 34.4 per cent and 33.9 per cent, respectively.

The 5EU countries will be followed by the US, with its CF market value expected to increase from $636 million in 2013 to $2.2 billion by 2019, at a CAGR of 28.6 per cent

Joshua Libberton, analyst for GBI Research, says that this rapid market expansion is due to powerful drugs entering the CF treatment arena, particularly novel disease-modifying Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) modulators.

“Although very expensive, CFTR modulators are the first agents to act directly on the defective CFTR protein, which is the root cause of CF. As a result, they represent the closest therapy to a cure that is currently available to CF patients,” Libberton says.

GBI Research states that one CFTR modulator, Kalydeco (ivacaftor), which was launched in 2012, has become one of the top-grossing drugs in the CF market, following a jump in value from $700 million in 2012 to $1.2 billion in 2013. The introduction of other CFTR modulators during the forecast period, such as lumacaftor and Ataluren, will further boost the market.

Libberton concludes “CFTR modulators are set to have the largest impact on the industry, but other high-profile pipeline drugs, including antibiotics Aeroquin and Arikace, will also benefit the market. With the increasing life expectancy of CF patients, there is an ever-expanding treatment population for these therapies to target over the coming years.”