The United Kingdom’s antirheumatic drug market was valued at US$4,325.221 million in 2020. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.93% to attain a value of US$5,664.104 million by 2027. The market in the United Kingdom is projected to show nominal growth over the next five years on account of the high prevalence of rheumatic diseases in the country coupled with the presence of a world-class healthcare sector in the country. According to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, more than 10 million people in the country suffer from arthritis and numerous other conditions. This, in turn, is anticipated to significantly drive the demand for various types of anti-rheumatic drugs and thus positively impact the market growth in the country in the coming years. Furthermore, the growing healthcare expenditure further enables the citizens to avail of costly treatments and medicines, which is also projected to positively impact the market growth in the United Kingdom throughout the forecast period.
Additionally, with the growing number of geriatric people, aged 65 years and above in the United Kingdom, the number of age-associated diseases such as joint pain, back pain, and rheumatoid arthritis, among others, will also continue to soar, hence the market for various types of antirheumatic drugs will also soar due to their requirement for disease treatment. According to the World Bank estimates, the geriatric population (65 years of age or older) in the United Kingdom has grown from a population size of 11.706 million in 2015 to a population size of 12.231 million in 2018.
COVID-19 SCENARIO
COVID has negatively affected the UK antirheumatic drugs market. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who contract COVID-19 infection, according to the Lancet Rheumatology 2020, are at significant risk of developing severe symptoms and consequences. COVID-19 is being studied as a potential therapy with some DMARDs routinely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, such as hydroxychloroquine medication. Other commonly used medications, such as biologics targeting interleukin (IL)-6 (sarilumab, tocilizumab) and IL-1 (anakinra), are also being studied in COVID-19 patients. As a result, COVID-19 infection boosted rheumatoid arthritis medicine manufacturers' growth prospects during the anticipated period.
The United Kingdom’s antirheumatic drug market has been segmented on the basis of the type of disease, type of molecule, and sales channel. Type of disease, the market has been classified on the basis of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, and others. The market has been segmented based on molecule type; the market has been segmented based on pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals. By the sales channel, the segmentation has been done on the basis of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC).
Segmentation