Glaxo’s asthma market lead to run out of puff

GlaxoSmithKline will see its dominance of the Australian asthma treatment market eroded over the next few years by the arrival of new combination and generic products. That’s according to a new study from industry analysts Datamonitor .

Glaxo is the leading provider of ICS/LABA fixed-dose combination products, which currently account for over half of Australia’s $333 million asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) market.

Datamonitor reports, however, that increasing numbers of ICS/LABA generics as well as new long-acting beta2-agonist/long-acting anticholinergic (LABA/LAMA) drugs would chip away at the company’s market share over the coming years. Further, Datamonitor predicts that the overall Australian asthma/ COPD market will likely only grow by a paltry $22 milion between now and 2019.

Later this year Glaxo is expected to launch in Australia its new once-daily Relovair (fluticasone furoate/vilanterol) asthma treatment product. Global sales of the product are expected to exceed those of Glaxo’s blockbuster Advair/Seretide (fluticasone propionate/salmeterol, a twice-daily ICS/LABA) by 2016. However, Datamonitor predicts that local sales of Relovair will only hit around $60 million - short of Glaxo’s expectations - despite it being the first once-daily product to be sold in Australia.