BURLINGTON, Mass.: Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, forecasts that India's asthma drug market will grow from $246 million in 2009 to $403 million in 2014, representing an annual growth rate of ten percent. According to the Emerging Markets report entitled Asthma in India, this growth will be fueled by improved access to medical care, a growing drug-treated population and a rising number of higher-income, brand-conscious asthma patients demanding more-efficacious agents.

"At $246 million, India's asthma market is close to some European Union countries in dollar terms," said Decision Resources Analyst Manashi Sherawat, M.Sc., Ph.D. "In 2009, multinational pharmaceutical companies accounted for five percent of total sales in the Indian asthma market and while uptake of Western-branded asthma drugs will increase by 2014, these drugs will face fierce competition from less-expensive Indian brands and generics."

According to the report, fixed-dosed combination drugs represent a major opportunity for multinational pharmaceutical companies. The use of combination therapy as maintenance treatment will increase as medical practice in India shifts from treating asthma on an as-needed basis toward treating it as a chronic disease that requires maintenance treatment. Specifically, Indian specialists anticipate that fixed-dosed combination therapies such as long-acting beta(2) agonist (LABA)/inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) will experience the highest uptake.

"Indian specialists struggle with patient compliance when treating asthma. The importance of consistent maintenance therapy is paramount because improved disease outcomes are not achieved unless maintenance therapies are administered consistently. The Indian asthma market would benefit from new, more-convenient therapies, which would boost patient compliance," added Dr. Sherawat.

The new report features extensive primary research of Indian specialists as well as epidemiology data.

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Decision Resources is the FIRST and ONLY company to offer a syndicated report series for high-growth emerging markets with comprehensive disease-specific analysis. Each report assesses the commercial opportunity in the pharmaceutical market for a disease based on population demographics, economic development, disease epidemiology and changing physicians' practices.

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SOURCE Decision Resources