Decision Resources, a research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, has found Roche/Chugai’s glycine transporter-1 inhibitor bitopertin is poised to be the first approved treatment to address negative symptoms in schizophrenia following its forecasted launch in the U.S. and Europe in 2016 and in Japan in 2017. As a first-in-class agent for the treatment of these prominent yet underserved symptoms of schizophrenia, Decision Resources expects bitopertin will garner nearly $1.5 billion in major-market sales in 2022.

“Treatments for negative symptoms, such as abnormalities in emotional expression and social interaction, is one of the top unmet needs in schizophrenia because, although nearly two-thirds of patients experience notable negative symptoms, currently available antipsychotics have not proven efficacious and reliable in treating such symptoms,” said Anne-Elise Tobin, Ph.D., Decision Resources senior business insights analyst. “Because bitopertin will be used adjunctively and thus will not compete directly with other currently available therapies, it will contribute to market growth over the forecast period.”

The Pharmacor advisory service entitled Schizophrenia also finds that the launch of depot formulations of two atypical antipsychotics, currently available in oral form, will lead to an overall increase in the use of depot formulations across the major markets under study. In particular, Otsuka/Lundbeck’s once-monthly Abilify Maintena will provide a more-tolerable option than current depot products, and Janssen’s paliperidone palmitate three-month formulation will offer substantial compliance and administration advantages over currently available once-monthly or twice-monthly depots. Together, these two agents are expected to capture major-market sales of nearly $1.8 billion in 2022.

The report finds that the schizophrenia market will grow from $6.3 billion in 2012 to $8 billion in 2022, owing to the launch of multiple premium-priced emerging therapies, including bitopertin, Abilify Maintena and paliperidone palmitate three-month depot.