US enzyme demand buoyed on by pharma needs

The growth of the pharmaceutical market is anticipated alongside diagnostics, research and biotechnology as the report hails the new advances in cardiovascular thrombolytics, as well as other new treatments, as responsible for the strong gains.

Pharmaceuticals will remain the largest enzyme market, as well as one of the fastest growing, due principally to the rapid expansion of the orphan drug market for treating lysosomal storage disorders, as well as ongoing growth in neuromodulators, particularly for cosmetic procedures.

The report, published by The Freedonia Group, focuses on an enzyme market that currently stands at approximately $1.3bn. In the longer term double-digit gains will occur in biocatalysts as enzymes increasingly find application in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical intermediates and other high value fine chemicals.

Product growth will be broad-based with strong gains across all enzyme types. The best opportunities will be in proteases and carbohydrases, with the fastest growth occurring among smaller enzyme types - such as phytase -having strong application-specific demand.

Advancements in biotechnology over the past ten years have allowed pharmaceutical companies to produce safer, cheaper enzymes with enhanced potency and specificity.

Along with these advances, changes in the orphan drug laws and new initiatives by the FDA have been effective in facilitating efforts to develop enzyme drugs.

The report also predicts the best opportunities will occur in proteases and carbohydrases, with the fastest growth occurring among smaller enzyme types - such as phytase - having strong, application specific demand.

It concluded that carbohydrases and proteases would continue to dominate demand because of their use in processing agricultural biomaterials, as well as rapid gains in several new carbohydrase- and protease-based pharmaceuticals.