Description
The rapidly aging global population is placing immense pressure on healthcare systems across countries and regions. The improvement in life expectancy levels has created a large cohort of aged patients who suffer from one or more chronic diseases. Traditionally, the approach towards the management of this issue has been on ‘repair’, i.e., treatment of the various age-related ailments such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson’s disease, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and age-related macular degeneration.
However, the industry is shifting focus and is widening its scope to a ‘prevent-manage-repair’ continuum, which is creating novel market opportunities for integrative approaches such innovative dietary supplements, aesthetics procedures, and alternative therapies (such as BHRT). Such approaches, along with advanced clinical therapeutics, such as regenerative medicine and pharmacological targeting of aging (focused on telomeres, rapalogs, senescent cell targeting, and mitochondria-based therapies) are key opportunities in this space.
Digital enablers are likely to gain prominence in the market, driving collaboration between drug and technology firms to cater to the ‘drug-as-a-service’ trend. Digital therapies that amalgamate mobile technology with AI and Big Data analytics for clinical effect will help lower costs and reduce drug side effects. Additionally, digital pills that can track medication consumption will improve drug adherence, a key challenge in the treatment of the elderly population. For example, the ABILIFY MYCITE from Proteus—a digital pill with an ingestible sensor, approved by the FDA for the delivery of Otsuka’s oral aripiprazole tablets—may boost adherence levels if used in the treatment of age-related disorders.
While offering multiple growth opportunities, the market is not without strategic challenges. Aging is an inherently complicated process with multiple complex pathways and mechanisms. Hence, clinical trials to identify novel age management therapies take a long time to show relevant results. The Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME) clinical trial is a good example. Additionally, aging is still not recognized as a disease by regulatory bodies, making it difficult for companies to position their product launches. Many of the earlier Anti-Aging products launched in the market offered limited results, creating a consumer trust deficit for novel products.
From a regional perspective, the United States and Europe are key markets for age-related products and solutions, with a large patient base, high income levels, and wide exposure to aging management methodologies. However, regions such as APAC, with a growing elderly population and improvement in educational and income levels are expected to emerge as attractive markets.
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