bioworld - Medical Device Daily

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ment. Meanwhile, the med-tech
industry is exploiting the lack of
approved drugs to quadruple its
growth rate for its most popular products
and services.
Given the public’s obsession with
weight control and other dynamics
including the lack of a widely prescribed
drug and the success of “last
resort” invasive surgical procedures,
the leading drug candidates, once
given the safety and efficacy approval
of bodies, particularly the FDA and
European Medicines Agency (EMEA),
stand to become the next class of
blockbuster drugs, as soon as in their
second post-approval years.
Historically, the consumer market has
aggressively pounced upon anything
available that hints at being “lose
weight fast”-effective and the substantial
patient market seeking to shed 75
pounds or more is embracing the most
extreme option available (surgical procedures)
to shed pounds. So, a market
entry by any of the biotech drugs vying
to become the first on the market in the
obesity space is projected to be wellreceived
by physicians and patients
looking for an efficacious middleground
between hyperbole and surgery.
Medical technology will be cannibalized
by the entry of new biotech
drugs, particularly in applications
involving moderate weight loss, but
the overall market will continue to
grow, as the future severely to morbidly
obese class is already in place, led by
a follow-on generational class of
genetically predisposed offspring and
those who already have fallen victim
to the sedentary life. Possibly, it will
take the lifestyle-changing efforts of
another generation to “devolve” from
the curse of genetic markers that have
doomed them to becoming overweight
and denounce the habits of
the chronically overweight.
The general philosophy among
patients to try drugs before scalpels
THE BIOWORLD AND MEDICAL DEVICE DAILY OBESITY REPORT
will result in a slowing of growth, but
not a reversal, in the bariatric surgery
market, as the severely obese patient
group still will remain securely reliant
on the surgery sector for its most
viable option in fighting morbid obesity
with the quickest results. Although
patients want the magic pill solution,
they still want results fast and the
bariatric surgeries, as well as certain
other procedures, offer unparalleled
(excluding rare cases of exceptional
patient willpower) reliable weight loss
in the most extreme cases.
The anti-obesity drug market is trying
to become an integral component of
the $650 billion global weight management
market that literally has the
weight of the world on its shoulders as
it strives to manage the world’s diet
and health. This massive market is
comprised of many sectors, including
diet food providers, health care services,
lifestyle therapies, fitness services
and equipment, and even the selfhelp
industry, but none is looked to
with more confidence to produce the
magic bullet cure as the med-tech and
(more particularly) drug development
industries.
Med-tech applications are currently
leading the on-the-market products
race to accommodate patients with
viable innovations for weight loss, but
given the fact that many patients and
payers view its technologies as invasive,
radical and, often, uninsurable,
the door is still open for immediate
and substantial growth for potential
clinical therapeutic candidates that
have the opportunity to get approved
during the current obesity onslaught
that is outpacing all attempts to curb
its growth.
Associative costs that arise due to obesity’s
effect on chronic diseases such as
diabetes and heart disease, as well as
obesity’s impact on devices, medications
and procedures such as wheelchairs,
arthritis drugs, body part
replacement surgeries, and portable
oxygen tanks for asthmatics – to name
a few – can only be estimated, but
could arguably push the total value of
the market to the $1 trillion threshold.
When biotech drugs enter the market,
they are almost assured a considerable
and immediate slice of the sector. Even
with the vast amount of OTC medications,
med-tech options, fitness outlets,
diet foods and services, and even
psychological alternative therapy regimens
that are available, there is no
leading course of therapy that has
won the confidence of the public or
taken on the standard-bearer mantle
as the go-to face of the industry. One
billion-dollar drug could do that within
two years after approval.
A good omen for the potential of
biotech drugs is that the public and
insurers would overwhelming, perhaps
absolutely, prefer a therapeutic drug
regimen over a surgical one. Drugs
would be even more desired as a
course of treatment over the litany of
devices that facilitate a patient’s mobility
or body functions that have been
impaired or destroyed due to the burden
of obesity on the body.
But biotech is no longer the smartest
one in the room, as medical technology
has maintained the lead in providing
the go-to solutions for the bulk of
obesity patient applications. The leading
technology that has put biotech in
the back seat has been the increasing
use of bariatric surgeries. Additionally,
there are many devices that address
the symptoms of not only obesity, but
diseases such as diabetes and heart
disease that wind up requiring replacement
body parts or apparatus that
mimic, or assist, body functions.
Examples include heart valves, diabetes
pumps and even wheelchairs.
Medical technology products and procedures
such as bariatric surgery and
prosthetics that are applied as a result
of direct obesity or its responsibility in
contracting other diseases may be the