Report Overview

Antibiotic resistance is a significant problem which is negatively impacting prescribing patterns, consequently reducing antibiotic usage. The total worldwide market for antibiotics and antifungals was US$25 billion in 2005, but is predicted to fall to between US$15 and US$20 billion by 2016. This forecast is based on a number of factors, but largely due to declining rates of antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory infections - a major segment of the market. Other contributing factors include the loss of market exclusivity for a number of popular branded antibiotics, including Abbott's Biaxin and Pfizer's Zithromax in 2005. Generic competitors of these drugs have already been launched and are set to make serious inroads on the branded market in the years to come.

In this unique market analysis report, The Global Market for Antimicrobials and Antifungals: Challenging Resistance to 2016, the reader will be presented with a comprehensive asessment of the global market for anti-infectives and antifungals. Included in the analysis are therapeutics to combat the lethal microorganisms MRSA, C. difficile, and the highly infectious agents potentially used in bioterrorism. The report also provides current sales and prescription trends for antibiotics and antifungals and a detailed review of the current armamentarium of marketed antibiotics and antifungals. Resistance mechanisms and efforts to target those mechanisms in drug discovery are also discussed. Furthermore, mechanisms of action of current and novel anti-infective therapeutics, side effects, and how differences in dosage formulations can affect their attractiveness to physicians and patients are also detailed. The report also provides an up-to-date extensive list of companies engaged in antibacterial and antifungal drug discovery and lists some of the novel scientific approaches being taken, including chemical biology, toxicogenomics, and computational approaches. It further documents efforts by companies to extend profits on drugs that are off-patent by developing new formulations with additional advantages benefiting patient compliance. Pipeline products and their advantages and disadvantages are also covered in-depth in the market analysis.