Abstract
Overview
Introduction
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disease affecting 10-20% of the
total adult population, particularly women, in which recurrent abdominal pain
or discomfort is associated with defecation or changes in bowel habit. The
majority of sufferers have never consulted a physician about their symptoms
and remain undiagnosed.
Scope
*Quantification of the epidemiology and patient segmentation in IBS, including
a breakdown of the patient population by gender and symptom type *Discussion
of issues with regards to IBS patient presentation, referral patterns and
diagnosis such as the new Rome III diagnostic criteria *Overview of the
current treatment controversies and unmet needs, including the market
withdrawal of Novartis' Zelnorm (tegaserod) *Analysis of clinical trial design
the R&D drug pipeline for new IBS drug therapies in 2007
Report Highlights
Despite the substantial impact IBS can have on sufferers' well being, about
70-80% of sufferers have not been formerly diagnosed. Although many patients
will have seen a doctor or nurse for their symptoms, they remain undiagnosed
and may have visited a healthcare professional on several occasions before
being formally diagnosed with IBS
Physicians frequently do not recognize IBS as a ' distinct' disease. Continuing
physician education is needed to change this attitude and improve diagnosis,
particularly in the primary care setting. A simple and easily accessible
diagnostic tool adapted specifically for non-specialists and clear peer
reviewed treatment guidelines are needed
The pipeline can be described as relatively innovative. The serotinergic class
accounts for a third of candidates, however, the poor safety record and market
withdrawal of Lotronex (alosetron) and Zelnorm has cast doubts over the
potential of this class. FDA non-approval of cilansetron is another setback
for the serotinergics
Reasons to Purchase
- *Quantify the key target segments of the IBS patient population across the
seven major markets
- *Gain insight into opinion leaders' thoughts on the major opportunities
and challenges facing the IBS market
- *Learn about key late-stage pipeline drugs and issues surrounding
diagnosis and clinical trial design
Table of Contents
- ABOUT DATAMONITOR HEALTHCARE
- About the CNS pharmaceutical analysis team
- CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Scope of the analysis
- Datamonitor insight into the irritable bowel syndrome market
- Contributing experts
- CHAPTER 2 EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PATIENT SEGMENTATION
- Definition of disorder
- Irritable bowel syndrome is a functional gastrointestinal disorder
- Diagnostic criteria separate this chronic condition from transient gut
symptoms
- Etiology
- Irritable bowel syndrome is best considered as an interaction of
biological and psychosocial factors
- Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome
- A standardized approach is needed in epidemiological studies
- Over 50 million adults suffer from IBS across the US and
- Segmentation of the irritable bowel syndrome population
- Segmentation by symptoms
- Irritable bowel syndrome can be sub-classified based on predominant
stool form
- Alternating irritable bowel syndrome is the most common subtype
reported
- Abdominal pain is the most common symptom of irritable bowel syndrome
- Segmentation by severity
- Only a third of patients have moderate to severe irritable bowel
syndrome
- Segmentation by sex and age
- The female-to-male ratio of IBS in the population is close to two
- Co-morbidities of irritable bowel syndrome
- High co-morbidity with other disorders
- CHAPTER 3 PRESENTATION AND DIAGNOSIS
- Presentation
- Patient presentation rates are low
- Abdominal pain is a common reason for consulting a physician
- Diagnosis
- There is no simple test for irritable bowel syndrome so diagnosis is
based on symptoms
- The Manning criteria helped identify the symptoms suggestive of
irritable bowel syndrome
- The Rome criteria have superseded the Manning criteria
- Rome III attempts to deal with confusion regarding consistency of
stools
- Quality of life measures are useful for assessing severity
- Within clinical practice, measures are rarely used to assess severity
- Many irritable bowel syndrome sufferers remain undiagnosed
- Irritable bowel syndrome management and referral patterns
- The majority of patients present and are managed by primary care
- CHAPTER 4 CURRENT TREATMENT
- There is no cure for irritable bowel syndrome
- Treatment guidelines
- Guidelines recommend treatment strategy is based on nature and
severity of symptoms
- US guidelines are based on consensus documents and reviews of existing
studies
- Japanese guidelines
- European guidelines suggest a similar approach to those in the US
- Non-pharmacological management
- Psychological and behavioral treatment
- Pharmacological management
- Pharmacological therapies are not normally recommended unless
non-pharmacological therapies have proved ineffective
- Laxatives are widely used in constipation-predominant irritable bowel
syndrome
- Antidiarrheal agents are widely used in diarrhea-predominant irritable
bowel syndrome
- Antispasmodics are the most common treatment for abdominal pain
- Antidepressants treat multiple symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome
- Serotonergic agents are a new approach to treating irritable bowel
syndrome
- Lotronex (alosetron)
- Zelnorm (tegaserod)
- CHAPTER 5 UNMET NEEDS AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES
- Diagnostic unmet needs
- Public understanding of irritable bowel syndrome is poor
- Improved patient-physician communication is a key goal
- Disease awareness programs and celebrity endorsement drive public
awareness
- Direct-to-consumer advertising has helped increase awareness and
presentation rates
- Physicians frequently do not recognize irritable bowel syndrome as a
' distinct' disease
- Continuing physician education is needed to improve diagnosis
- Development of simple diagnostic guidelines could aid diagnosis
- Therapeutic unmet needs
- Few primary care physicians follow current treatment guidelines in
clinical practice
- Efficacy of current pharmacological therapies is unclear
- Patient satisfaction with current therapies is low
- CHAPTER 6 NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
- Clinical trial design
- Issues with and limitations of previous clinical trials for irritable
bowel syndrome
- EMEA has provided guidance on clinical trial design
- A different trial design for short-term and long-term treatments is
advocated
- A broad spectrum of irritable bowel syndrome patients who meet Rome
II criteria should be included
- Primary and secondary efficacy endpoints should be included
- Impact of safety issues with marketed therapies for future therapies
- Pipeline in 2007
- Pipeline overview
- Key Phase III pipeline drugs
- Cilansetron (KC-9946)
- Ramosetron (YM-060)
- Renzapride (ATL-1251)
- Dexloxiglumide
- Lubiprostone (SP1-0211)
- Other pipeline drugs
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- APPENDIX
- Contributing experts
- About Datamonitor
- About Datamonitor Healthcare
- About the Central Nervous System analysis team
- Disclaimer
- List of Tables
- Table 1: Diagnostic criteria* for irritable bowel syndrome (Rome III
criteria, C1)
- Table 2: Summary of IBS epidemiology study design and results across
the seven major markets, 2001-06
- Table 3: Summary of IBS epidemiology study design and results for
selected countries outside US, Japan and 5EU, 2004-06
- Table 4: Prevalence of IBS in the US and 5EU markets, 2007
- Table 5: Subtyping irritable bowel syndrome by predominant stool
pattern
- Table 6: The Bristol Stool Form Scale
- Table 7: Proportion of sufferers with subtypes
- Table 8: Subtyping of irritable bowel syndrome: current sufferers with
no formal diagnosis
- Table 9: The Manning criteria
- Table 10: Features used to subclassify irritable bowel syndrome
- Table 11: Type of healthcare professional seen for irritable bowel
syndrome at any stage: percentage of subjects with current symptoms
- Table 12: Components of the treatment strategy: US medical position
statement for irritable bowel syndrome
- Table 13: British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines for treatment
of irritable bowel syndrome
- Table 14: Pharmacological therapies used for the management of
irritable bowel syndrome
- Table 15: R&D pipeline in irritable bowel syndrome, 2007
- List of Figures
- Figure 1: Interaction between the brain, bowel and environment
- Figure 2: Two-dimensional display of the four possible irritable bowel
subtypes according to bowel form at a particular point in time
- Figure 3: Novartis patient information website on irritable bowel
syndrome