Almirall, Faes Farma and Sandoz lead growing allergy business

When the plants begin to release pollen, the cash registers and telephones of Spanish pharmacies smoke with the sale of drugs and narcotics. spring allergy treatment. The Spanish National Health System (SNS) estimates that there is almost 15% of the population who, with the arrival of spring, suffers from allergic rhinitis. In total, about 6.6 million people live here. This figure, according to the Ministry of Health, grew by 42.3% over the past seven years. An increase in the number of those experiencing symptoms such as itching, red eyes, nasal congestion and sneezing is leading toThe antihistamine market is very tempting for pharmaceutical companies.

Treatment options for allergic rhinitis change every year. 190 million euros in SpainThis was reported by the consulting company Iqvia. “Antihistamines are the king of the mambo,” reads the PlantaDoce headline. Lorena Soto, Coordinator of the Respiratory Allergy Committee of the Catalan Allergy Society of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Catalonia. Regardless, remember that this is not the only treatment available. There are also ophthalmic antiallergy medications available in the form of eye drops, nasal sprays, or decongestants.

Antihistamines account for approximately 65% ​​of the annual turnover of the Spanish allergy market.

In estimated figures star treatment – antihistamine. The latest available data detailing how much money moves in each category is from 2018, but experts note that the percentages are still valid in 2024. That year in Spain the allergy market gave rise to 205.6 million eurosof which 139.3 (64.1%) are from the sale of antihistamines. decongestants They amounted to 51.2 million euros (23.6%). sprayswith 14.1 million (6.5%) and tears, by only one million euros (0.5%). Immunotherapy treatments were not included in Iqvia’s statistics, and there are no recent reports that include this therapeutic category.

gold molecules

Among the best-selling molecules in the antihistamine field are: ebastine and bilastine. According to Iqvia, the two together account for more than 50% of sales and leave almost 80 million euros in pharmacies every year. In third and fourth place are desloratadine and cetirizine, with a turnover of about 15 million each. Loratadine-based compounds round out the top five best-selling antihistamines in Spain.

There are several laboratories that sell drugs with these molecules. Currently in Spanish pharmacies you can find up to 63 presentations of ebastine-based drugs, produced by 26 different pharmaceutical companies. Ebastina’s father Almiralwhich leads sales with its Ebastel, but generic versions of the drug have been around for many years, produced by Sandoz, Ratiopharm, Stada, Teva, Kern Pharma or Cinfa.

Bilastine business

In the case of bilastine, the star mark is Bilakstenfrom the Biscay company Faes Pharma. It had a patent on the compound since 2011, but it expired in 2021, so generics are also appearing on the market. In 2024 more thirty formatsmade by some twenty different laboratories, according to calculations from this media. Among those who also wanted to join the party were Sandoz, Teva, Sinfa and Normon.

Sales of bilastine account for almost 24% of Faes Farma’s annual turnover, which has withstood the blow of the emergence of generics.

“Since 2015, we have sold more than 5 billion doses of bilastine, holding a 12.4% share of the global antihistamine market and being the best seller in our prescription markets,” Faes Pharma highlighted in the 2021 report. the market was Japan, followed by China and Brazil.. In Spain in 2021 they delivered end of your patent, but the company says it has withstood the blow. “We faced our biggest challenge and managed to maintain a 19% share in Spain, despite the introduction of a generic in Spain,” the company announced, citing 2022 data. According to the Basque pharmaceutical company, generic bilastine represented only 2% of total units sold in Spain that year.

Faes Farma closed in 2023. year of record turnover. Thanks in part to bilastine, which continued to lead the market with the introduction of new eye drop and orodispersible products. The year ended with sales of 473 million euros and profits of 92 million, up 2.5% on the previous year. A 23.8% of turnover came from the sale of bilastine, which is present in 127 countries. In 2024, the company plans to continue to grow revenue by 6-8% due to the entry of its gold molecule into the Chinese market.

Growing market

“Pharmaceutical companies see a very encouraging market in allergy treatments,” explains Soto. With the growing number of allergy sufferers in Spain, laboratories are betting on this sector. “If more and more Spaniards suffer from respiratory allergies, it is mainly for two reasons: improving diagnostic methods and promoting climate change“, – he summarizes, – asked PlantaDocé Montserrat Alvaro, training and research coordinator of the allergy and clinical immunology service of the Sant Joan de Déu hospital in Barcelona. On an economic level, this means the emergence of a market capable of moving more and more money.

Laboratories are constantly investing in improvement of treatment. “The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly able to synthesize new antihistamines without side effects, with a high degree of efficacy and safety,” explains Alvaro. Thus, Faes Farma has already stated that for 2025, is working on bilastine for children under six years of age, an age segment in which more and more people are being diagnosed with allergies. He also wants to sell it in eye drop format. This will be more than a result 110 million euros that Faes Farma has invested in research, development and innovation (R+D+i) over the past five years to improve treatment in four “therapeutic areas with high growth potential“, including allergies.