Botox Success

Allergan Inc. (AGN)’s Botox, used primarily for cosmetic treatments, is also approved as a preventative therapy for migraines, though only for severe sufferers who have attacks lasting four hours or more at least 15 days a month. That means only about 10 percent of migraine patients qualify for that option. Sales for Botox as a migraine treatment alone could reach $1 billion during the next decade, Anne-Elise Tobin, an analyst with Burlington, Massachusetts-based Decision Resources, said in an interview. The new class of drugs would be for a bigger patient population with less frequent migraines.

“Botox demonstrates the market potential for a new emerging prophylaxis therapy,” said Tobin, who estimates the global market for all migraine treatments should increase 87 percent to $5.8 billion in 2021 from $3.1 billion in 2011.

Source:  by Ryan Flinn for Bloomberg April 22, 2013 at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-22/chili-peppers-seen-helping-36-million-migraine-sufferers.html