Growth Potential

The following factors are expected to drive growth in the RA therapeutics markets:

• Increased diagnosis rate
• Increased uptake of currently marketed biological agents and the expected launch of novel agents
• Increased prevalence due to changing demographics

The RA prevalent population is anticipated to increase by 1.3% annually, in line with growth of the population in general and acknowledging the increasing share of people aged over 35 years in relation to the total population. Also the diagnosis rate is expected to increase from 85% in 2002 to up to 90% in 2012.

Improved diagnosis is related to the rising awareness of RA among primary care providers and the strong emphasis on early detection in order to commence treatment at an early stage of the disease.