Watch out, GlaxoSmithKline. The market for HIV drugs may be expanding, but it's shifting like the San Andreas Fault at the same time, and more than a handful of companies are poised to challenge GSK for dominance.
For years, GSK has been the "undisputed king" of the $8 billion HIV treatment market. But its portfolio of drugs is aging, and will gradually lose patent protection over the next decade. The company's HIV sales dropped by 1 percent to $2.2 billion during the first nine months of this year, as its top-selling Combivir faltered.
Ready to strike are Bristol-Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences, with combo drugs like Atripla and Truvada, relatively new-to-market products that nonetheless brought in some $650 million and $1.1 billion respectively during the first nine months of 2007. And then there's Merck with its brand-new Isentress, Pfizer and its fledgling Selzentry, and Johnson & Johnson with Prezista. And more new HIV remedies are on their way.
- check out this CNN Money report
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