Report: Number of Americans Diagnosed with COPD Expected to Increase by 34.5 Percent in 2013

July 10, 2007

According to a new Frost & Sullivan report — U.S. COPD Market: Therapeutic Overview and Patient Outlook — COPD remains one of the leading under-diagnosed diseases. The report indicated that while approximately 13.6 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, an estimated additional 15 million Americans have the disease but remain undiagnosed. According to the National Institute of Health, COPD is currently the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States and is expected to ascend to the third position by 2020.

"Going forward, the number of Americans diagnosed with COPD is expected to increase by 34.5 percent from 13.6 million to 18.4 million in 2013," says the analysis. "This increase can be attributed to several factors including the increased growth in the older age segments of the population, the high number of current and former smokers, and an increase in screening for COPD."

Smoking remains the largest contributing factor to the development of COPD. Although the number of adult smokers decreased in the last decade, these numbers seem to have leveled off with the smoking rate staying virtually the same. "With an estimated 45 million current smokers and 45.9 million former smokers in the U.S. the COPD patient population is expected to expand," notes the analysis. "This could increase the number of people requiring treatment for this disease and subsequently maintain positive revenue growth."

In this research, analysts examined bronchodilators, anti-inflammatories, combination therapies and novel therapeutic approaches.

One of the major obstacles in the expansion of the U.S. COPD market is the high rate of patient noncompliance. COPD is cited as having the fourth-highest rate of patient noncompliance. It is estimated that the prescription compliance rate for these patients is under 50 percent, and many experts believe that actual compliance rates are much lower. For example, in The Lung Health Study, it was determined that for bronchodilators, compliance as measured by canister weight was actually 10 percent lower then reported compliance rates. Another study found that compliance rates for patient use of inhaled corticosteroids were as low as 18 percent. Moreover, medications used to treat COPD come with side effects, which often discourage patients from long-term use of these products.

Another report published by Decision Resources, a research and advisory firm focusing on pharmaceutical and health care issues, forecasts that the COPD drug market will nearly double from $5.8 billion in 2006 to $10.6 billion in 2016.