Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, forecasts that the non-small-cell lung cancer drug market in Brazil will reach $240 million by 2014. Factors fuelling this growth include a slight but steady annual increase in the number of incident cases, greater uptake of higher-priced brands of chemotherapy, targeted regimens and maintenance treatment (all in the advanced setting) and modest uptake of novel targeted agents.

“Through the Brazilian national health system, virtually all diagnosed patients have access to treatment. However, a small but lucrative segment of patients with private health insurance largely drives the use of premium-priced novel chemotherapy and targeted agents,” stated Decision Resources’ Analyst Janie Cox, Ph.D. “During our 2009 – 2014 study period of Brazil’s non-small-cell lung cancer drug market, collective sales of targeted therapies such as Roche’s Avastin and Tarceva, and AstraZeneca’s emerging agent Iressa, are expected to grow 21 percent annually while sales of Eli Lilly’s novel chemotherapy agent, Alimta, are expected to grow 15 percent annually.”