Driven by an increased incidence of respiratory disease and an aging population, the respiratory device market reached $44.2 billion in 2011, according to a new report from healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information.
In the report, “World Market for Respiratory Devices,” Kalorama says the largest component of this market is respiratory inhalers and associated therapeutic pharmaceuticals, reflecting about 77 percent of the total.
Products that comprise the worldwide respiratory device market include inhalers, nebulizers, airway and mask equipment, sleep apnea equipment, oxygen therapy equipment and ventilators, medical humidifiers and respiratory measurement devices.
Bruce Carlson, publisher of the report, said the aging population is a major driver of sales growth because age is often associated with respiratory disease.
“With age comes a greater likelihood of respiratory problems (such as) asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease),” said Carlson. “Then if we get away from respiratory conditions alone, the greater incidence of all conditions means more operations, more hospital stays, which translates into sales of oxygen and airway masks.”
“The other (driver) is a greater emphasis on sleep apnea treatments and a greater acknowledgement in recent years that this is a problem that needs to be addressed clinically,” added Carlson.
The report notes that most of the respiratory device market consists of sales of inhaler devices, however, that should not disguise the potential in other segments, which could see sales growth between 7 and 9 percent in the next five years.
"The lion's share of the market is inhalers, but there are other devices that are going to drive revenue growth as well, and we detail these in the report," said Carlson.
Because of the aging population, Carlson believes there is “no end in the foreseeable future” to the growth trend.
“Growth in inhalers will be somewhere around 5 percent in the next five years,” said Carslon. “There is a point at which these products lose patent protection and premium pricing due to the conversion, but we don’t see it in the next five years.”
Carlson said sales growth will also be pushed by new treatment applications for inhalers.
“Because of the ease of use and advancements in inhaler delivery, drug companies and drug delivery manufacturers are increasingly interested in this inhaler delivery, even outside respiratory therapies,” he added. “It continues to be looked at for insulin and drugs for inhibition of lung tumor growth. The more inhalers are used in other areas, the more it will move the respiratory inhaler segment even further into the forefront.”