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Opportunities and Challenges in Emerging U.S. Geriatric Drug Markets
Decision Resources, Inc, Aug 2005, Pages: 13
On January 1, 2006, millions of senior citizens in the United States will become eligible for Medicare Part D drug benefits under the provisions of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (Medicare Modernization Act [MMA]). This enormous redirection of funds into the health care system has the potential to disrupt the status quo within the pharmaceutical industry, creating new winners and losers. Success in the geriatric drug arena will require a detailed mastery of the new rules, a nimble approach to partnering, and the ability to respond rapidly to inevitable changes in the regulations.
This report focuses on the geriatric population and its prescription drug use, outlines several emerging geriatric disorders, and discusses current and emerging therapies for their treatment either through development of new molecules or through application of life-extension strategies to existing products. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges associated with developing and marketing a therapy to this population segment.
Business Implications
- The 65-and-older population is rapidly growing and is a disproportionately large user of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. By 2020, the population aged 65 or older in the United States is projected to reach 55 million (16.3% of the overall U.S. population).
- Several indications are well established as primarily geriatric diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Emerging geriatric indications range from less well-understood geriatric anemia syndromes and cachexia to mild cognitive impairment and the rapidly growing age-related macular degeneration market. These emerging indications represent underserved markets in geriatric care.
- Although a patient’s age may itself alter the basic pharmacology of a molecule, patient age-related changes in drug profiles are more often the effect of comorbidities (particularly those that affect metabolic pathways such as liver and heart failure), drug-drug interactions, or changes in protein binding. Even what appear to be straightforward patient age-related changes in pharmacology often prove far more complex on careful analysis.
- An important consideration in marketing to geriatric segments is identifying the key influencers. Although patients and families still play important roles in determining diagnosis and treatment, additional stakeholders wield considerable influence over specific drug use in geriatric patients. These stakeholders include physicians and, within the nursing home setting, include Medicare, the nurse, and the consultant pharmacist.
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