Abstract

The Food and Drug Administration approved Benlysta as the first ever drug for the treatment of the lupus and the symptoms that are associated with this disease of the immune system. Before Benlysta, physicians depended on the use of a steroid called Prednisone for the suppression and treatment of the disease and of the severe wasting of tissues to the patients caused by the disease. However, this steroid was reported to have severe side effects to the sufferers, who in US alone are estimated to be over total 1.5 million. Due to this, more than 330,000 patients have reported that they were on the lookout for a new drug. This reported huge number of unsatisfied customers marks a huge market potential for the new drug. In fact, Human Genome Sciences Inc, who together with GSK, came up with Benlysta estimate that the drug will turn into a billion dollar investment by 2015 (Human Genome Sciences, Inc., 2010). Since it has been a number of decades before a drug for lupus was approved for medical use, the company faces the challenge of stirring demand for this new product and of convincing physicians that the new drug is worth the $35, 000 a year that patients will pay for it. The aim of this paper is to analyze the market potential of the drug and come up with proper recommendations of how to HGS should approach marketing for the new drug.
Read more >