Global Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Market (by Drug Type, Application Type, Distribution Type, & Region): Insights and Forecast with Potential Impact of COVID-19 (2022-2027)

NASH is an inflammatory liver disease characterized by excessive fat accumulation in the liver (steatosis), hepatocellular ballooning, and inflammation. Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis, also known as "Silent Liver Disease," is a type of liver disorder caused by long-term alcohol abuse that primarily affects non-alcoholics or those who consume very little alcohol. NASH is the second stage of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that has progressed to the point of liver inflammation and cell damage.

Increased investment in medical infrastructure, rising consumption of processed foods containing polyunsaturated fatty acids and fructose, increased focus on drug development, and many companies launching non-invasive diagnostic procedures are expected to drive the overall market. The global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) market is likely to reach US$2.71 billion in 2023, progressing at a CAGR of 53.49% over the projected period.

Segment Covered

By Drug Type: In terms of drug type, the report offers insights of the global NASH market into five segments: vitamin e & pioglitazone, ocaliva, elafibranor, selonsertib & cenicriviroc and others. The vitamin E & pioglitazone segment held the maximum share of the global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market as these two drugs are seen to be effective in improving the condition associated with NASH and with no FDA approved drugs in the market to treat NASH, these drugs are expected to be continuously demanded and recommended by medical professionals as the first line drugs for treating NASH. Elafibranor non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market is the fastest growing segment of global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market in the forecasted period, owing to positive impact of elafibranor in NASH treatment during clinical trials and drug’s capability to reduce fat substance of liver, improving the conditions caused by NASH.

By Application Type: On the basis of application, the report provides the segmentation of the global market as follows: treatment and diagnosis. The non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) treatment market is both the largest and fastest growing segment of global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) market owing to increased prevalence of NASH, expected launch of new pipeline drugs by pharmaceutical companies and development of various potential pathways for NASH treatments, including lipogenesis inhibitors, medications targeting the farnesoid X receptor axis, ASK1 inhibitors, etc.

By Distribution Type: The report further offers the bifurcation of the market into three segments according to the distribution type: retail pharmacies, online pharmacies and hospital pharmacies. Retail pharmacies non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) market is the largest and fastest segment of global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) market owing to strong presence of drug stores & retail pharmacies, more engaging patient centric services, easy accessibility in terms of more convenient locations and better drug portfolio with more thorough information about medications and health items that can be used to treat the conditions associated with NASH.

Geographic Coverage

According to this report, the global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) market is divided into five regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. The countries covered in North America region are the US, Canada, and Mexico, while Europe includes Ge Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Rest of Europe. Moreover, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Rest of Asia Pacific are included in the Asia Pacific region. The North America non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market holds the dominant share in global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market owing to the rise in number of cases of associated chronic diseases like obesity, increasing healthcare expenditure and presence of major NASH players in the region. Whereas, Asia Pacific non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market in expected to be the fastest growing segment of global NASH market owing to growing prevalence of NASH, advancing healthcare infrastructure and increasing investments from international NASH players in countries like China and India, having positive impact on diagnostic advancements in the region. China non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market held the largest share in Asia Pacific non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market.

Top Impacting Factors

Growth Drivers

• Rising prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)
• Rising Cases of Associated Chronic Diseases
• Rising adoption of Sedentary Lifestyle
• Rising Health Awareness

Challenges

• Absence of Low Cost and Definitive Diagnostic Methods
• Regulatory Compliance

Trends

• Increasing Integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Digitalization
• Increased Promotion of Pipeline Drugs
• Increasing Investment on Research and Development (R&D)

Driver: Rising prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)

NASH is a chronic inflammatory liver disease and if left untreated, can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer. In addition to having an increased risk for liver-related illness, people with NASH also tend to have a higher risk of suffering from a heart attack or stroke due to the presence of other comorbidities (when there are two or more medical conditions present) such as high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. So, with rising number of people suffering from NASH, there is an increasing demand for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) therapeutics and provision of current treatment practices, emerging drugs and diagnostic tools in the market, boosting the growth of global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market.

Challenge: Absence of Low Cost and Definitive Diagnostic Methods

NASH is presently diagnosed using methods such as blood test, imaging or liver biopsy which are time consuming, inefficient and cumbersome diagnostic procedures. Liver biopsy is an invasive method associated with high cost, sampling errors and major risks like bleeding, pain, perforation, infection and even (on occasion) death. Therefore, with liver biopsy being a painful procedure and causing patients a lot of discomfort and potential side effects, there has been a large number of patients who are opting out of diagnosis and hence resulting in low diagnosis rate of NASH, impeding the growth of global NASH market. Owing to such factors, the non-alcoholic steatohepatitis global average diagnosis rate lies at only around 20%, negatively impacting the treatment rate and hence the demand for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) therapeutics. Therefore, absence of conclusive diagnostic methods, poor diagnostic rates, slow reimbursement, and high cost of therapy will continue to pose as a major challenge in the growth of global NASH market.

Trend: Increasing Integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Medical professionals in NASH market are using bioinformatics and artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand how the disease behaves and to develop personalized medicine strategies. For instance, Hepion is pursuing a strategy around company’s AI-POWR platform which could enable integrative, multi-variate, systems biology bioinformatic and big-data analysis of both proprietary and public datasets to potentially enable the company to target specific patient subsets for company’s drug “rencofilstat”, amongst other benefits. Also, use of machine learning in digital pathology has allowed quantitative analysis of steatosis, ballooning, inflammation and fibrosis in biopsy samples to be more accurate and with a high degree of efficiency. Therefore, integration of AI has allowed medical professionals to better understand disease mechanism, identify biomarkers, track disease progression/ regression and predict drug responders, making them more effective in providing drugs and hence creating a positive demand for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) therapeutics, boosting the growth of global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market.

The COVID-19 Analysis

COVID-19 brought in many changes in the world in terms of reduced productivity, loss of life, business closures, closing down of factories and organizations, and shift to an online mode of work. With lockdown polices imposed by the government to prevent the spead of virus, there was an increased adoption of sedentary lifestyle, rise in consumption of processed food containing polyunsaturated fatty acids, decreased regular exercises and increased consumption of fructose-rich diets, risk factors assosiated with increased likelihood of developing NASH. COVID-19 pandemic also contributed towards a rise in cardiovascular & metabolic risk factors along with appearance of new chronic pathologies, increasing the risk of developing NAFLD and NASH, having a positive effect on the market in terms of increased demand for current treatment practices, diagnostic tools and emerging drugs for the treatment of NASH. Therefore, the global impact of COVID-19 on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market turned out to be positive.

Analysis of Key Players

The market for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis has been consolidated. The key players of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis market are Siemens Healthineers AG, Novartis AG, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Galectin Therapeutics Inc., Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Inventiva S.A., GENFIT S.A., Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Prometheus Laboratories Inc., BioPredictive, ONE WAY LIVER, S.L., and Cirius Therapeutics.