altThe respiratory complications market is set to grow from $21.8 billion in 2015 to $30.2 billion by 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate of 4.7%, according to business intelligence provider GBI Research.

The company’s latest report states that, despite a small late-stage pipeline, the space will see a relatively strong rise in value due to sales of products already on the market. Indeed, the approval of pipeline products is expected to have a limited impact on the market during the forecast period.

Yasser Mushtaq, Senior Analyst for GBI Research, explains: “There are few drugs that generate substantial revenue in the current respiratory complications market, with only one generating over $1 billion from revenues specific to these complications. This is the Prevnar family pneumococcal disease vaccine, which has been approved for a broad spectrum of patients and generated $6.3 billion in 2015, a level of revenue which is expected to remain relatively stable over the forecast period.”

Several recently approved drugs are expected to unlock a substantial degree of commercial potential within the respiratory complications therapy area, and to grow to generate blockbuster revenues from indications within the therapy area over the course of the forecast period.

The most notable of these are Uptravi (selexipag) and Opsumit (macitentan), both marketed by Actelion, and expected to generate revenues of $2.3 billion and $1.8 billion in 2022, respectively. Another notable upcoming drug will is the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine currently in Phase III development by Novavax, which GBI Research forecasts to generate $1.2 billion by 2022.

Mushtaq continues: “Pfizer is expected to maintain its position as market leader throughout the entire forecast period, overwhelmingly thanks to the hugely impressive sales of Prevnar, with Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline also among the leading Big Pharma companies within the respiratory complications market.

“Smaller biopharmaceutical firms, such as Actelion, Novavax, and United Therapeutics, also feature prominently in the respiratory complications market. Actelion and Novavax in particular are expected to experience strong revenue growth during the forecast period due to the success of therapies targeting pulmonary arterial and respiratory syncytial virus, respectively.”