Osteoporosis Therapeutics in Asia-Pacific Markets

by Sameer Joshi or 01-Jun-2018

There are often no warning signs or symptoms of osteoporosis until weakening of the bones, back pain, and bone fractures occur. In most of the cases, fracture is the clinical outcome associated with osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a “silent epidemic” and as per the WHO declarations, it is a priority health issue. The chronic nature of the disease, which requires ongoing treatment, has made osteoporosis treatment a highly lucrative market. The osteoporosis therapeutic market has become very competitive due to the high number of new drug approvals, although the majority of them are incremental innovations of existing therapies.

Poor patient compliance remains one of the main physician concerns for osteoporosis treatment, along with the safety and efficacy of the currently marketed products. This can be attributed to the silent nature of the disease, as the disease weakens the bone slowly over several years and has a low pain point compared with other chronic conditions. This can lead to lower patient compliance with prescribed therapies, as there can be a misconception that osteoporosis drugs are not as necessary as other medications. To address the issue, companies are developing new routes of drug administration.
Bijay Sambahangphe, Analyst at Publisher comments:

"The push to develop new routes of drug administration such as transdermal patches and subcutaneous injections is expected to lead to increased compliance rates and improved quality of life for osteoporosis patients."