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2 Healthcare Stocks That Could Benefit From This Growing Market

Published 08/02/2022, 03:59 PM
Updated 07/09/2023, 06:31 AM

Spinal cord injuries are a serious, life-threatening medical condition that has long been associated with high fatality rates and paralysis. A spinal cord injury is damage to the spinal cord caused by trauma such as car accidents or sports injuries, as well as disease or degeneration. Although developed economies have improved emergency response, effective health and rehabilitation interventions, technologies, and extensive social services, medical and rehabilitation services are still scarce globally.

According to the World Health Organization, the estimated global SCI incidence is 40 to 80 new cases per million population annually. This means that between 250,000 and 500,000 people suffer from traumatic spinal cord injuries each year (according to WHO data). SCI affects up to 500,000 people in Europe, with at least 27,000 new cases diagnosed yearly. Furthermore, treatment costs range from $1.6 million to nearly US $5 million for 25-year-olds to $1.1 million to nearly $2.7 million for 50-year-olds.

In addition to the seriousness of this illness and the massive costs associated with its treatment, inadequate medical care and a lack of effective pharmacological treatments can cause death and disability in people with SCI. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutics to treat SCI that are widely applicable and easily administrable.

The global spinal cord injury therapeutics market was estimated to be valued at $6.78 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1% through 2028. The rising government investments in promoting research and development for the treatment of spinal cord injuries will support the market growth giving key market players a lucrative opportunity to develop novel therapeutics to meet unmet needs. Here are three companies to consider in this growing market.

1. Pfizer

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is one of the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical and biomedical companies, and its SCI-related drug, Lyrica, has long been the best-selling neurology brand. Lyrica (pregabalin) capsules CV were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2012 to treat neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury.

Lyrica is an oral prescription drug used to treat partial seizures, fibromyalgia, and neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is caused by nerve damage or injury and can be felt above, at, or below the level of the spinal cord injury. Approximately one-third of spinal cord injury patients report severe or excruciating below-level neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain related to spinal cord damage may arise in patients as early as two weeks after the injury and may last for up to 25 years. Lyrica does not provide recovery of lost functionality.

2. AbbVie

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) is a biopharmaceutical research company that was spun off from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in 2013. The company specializes in chronic autoimmune diseases, oncology, virology, and neurological and metabolic disorders.

In 2020, the company announced that the FDA had granted Orphan Drug and Fast Track designations to elezanumab (ABT-555), an investigational treatment for patients with spinal cord injury. AbbVie has also collaborated with the United Spinal Association and the North American Spinal Cord Injury Consortium to raise spinal cord injury awareness and incorporate views from the spinal cord injury community into clinical research and outreach.

Conclusion

Many emerging biotech companies are working to develop treatments for SCI amid the rising need to eradicate treatable medical conditions. The SCI treatment market is still in its infancy, with only a few encouraging clinical trial results. R&D investments aimed at SCI treatment that can significantly raise the quality of life for millions of SCI patients will result in substantial market growth in the coming years. This makes now an excellent time to consider investing in companies leading the charge in developing novel treatments to combat SCI and improve the quality of life for these patients.

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