The acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) market is expected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2019 to $5.1 billion in 2029 across the eight major markets at a high compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.6 per cent, according to GlobalData.

This growth will be driven by label expansions of the already successful drugs Venclexta, Tibsovo, Idhifa and Xospata, as well as by a strong late-stage pipeline. GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Opportunity Analysis and Forecasts to 2029’, forecasts 16 novel agents to enter the market in the period to 2029.

Sakis Paliouras, Oncology Analyst at GlobalData, comments, “The management of AML was revolutionised after 2017, mostly with the introduction of targeted agents with good efficacy and tolerability. The treatment of older patients who cannot tolerate intensive chemotherapy has been improved and patients who relapse after initial therapy have new options available if they present with FLT3 or IDH1/2 mutations.”

Key opinion leaders (KOLs) interviewed by GlobalData are optimistic about further improvement in the future and are excited about the introduction of immunotherapy agents. Specifically, GlobalData projects immunotherapy agents to claim 13% share of the global market by 2029.

Despite this progress, a high level of unmet need across the field remains, as all agents are ineffective in long-term disease control. There is still ample opportunity for new therapeutics to address specific needs in AML.

Paliouras continues, “Regional differences are striking in AML. While the US and some European countries have access to premium-priced targeted therapies, care in Japan and China is dominated by chemotherapies and hypomethylating agents. Increased biomarker testing in Asia and gradual adoption of novel agents will drive a large increase in the value of these markets.”

GlobalData forecasts the most successful agent recently introduced in AML to be AbbVie/Roche’s Venclexta, backed by a strong commercial strategy coupled with a unique clinical fit. Following closely, Agios’ Tibsovo and Agios/Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Idhifa are expected to surpass $1 billion in combined sales by 2029, driven by a unique strategy of gradual label expansions that cover different populations and lines of therapy.