According to the American Pain Society, pain is the most common symptom that prompts people to seek medical care in the US, but its effective management remains inadequate, particularly for chronic pain. Current treatments for pain mainly include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ("NSAIDs") for mild to moderate pain, and opioids, such as morphine, for moderate to severe and chronic pain. The opioids are notoriously associated with tolerance and dependence, while safety issues with Cox-2 inhibitors, an important class of NSAIDs, have led to market withdrawals, leaving a void in the pharmacological treatment of pain.
The global pain management market was worth US $46.4bn in 2007¹ and is expected to reach US $57.2bn by 2014. NSAIDs formed the third largest segment of this market, with sales of $9.3bn. Sales growth in this segment is driven by an aging global population and changing attitudes towards pain management.
In 2011, the global market for OTC sales of topical analgesics was worth US $4.1 billion. Futura's lead product for pain relief management, TPR100, a topically delivered NSAID, will target this market and is expected to be available as an over the counter medicine in most key territories.
A higher dose formulation of TPR100 is being developed as an effective treatment for more profound indications such as pain associated with osteoarthritis.
The US pain management market had sales of US $24 billion in 2007¹ making up over half of the total market, and represents a significant opportunity for an effective and safe topical NSAID. The market is emerging, with the first two prescription only topical NSAIDs launched as recently as 2008. In 2010, the topical NSAIDs market was estimated to be worth over US $275 million.
¹ - Business Insights, "The Pain Management Market Outlook To 2014", 2009.