Andrew
10-18-05, 08:50 PM
New research shows that Americans are taking more sleeping medications than ever.
October 17, 2005
Prescription management company Medco Health Solutions said Monday that the use of sleep medicines in America has rapidly risen since the turn of the century.
A study conducted by Medco found that the number of 20- to 44-year-olds using sleeping medications doubled in the short period from 2000 to 2004 and rose by 85 percent in children aged 10 to 19.
The news is good for pharmaceutical manufacturers making money from sleep medicines.
The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Aventis makes the world’s most popular prescription sleeping pill, Ambien. Its annual global sales hit $1.76 billion in 2004, when Americans spent a total of $2.1 billion on sleep medications.
Overall, the Medco study found that sleep medicine spending rose 190 percent over the same period in 20- to 44-year-olds, and by as much as 233 percent for sleep medicines taken by 10- to 19-year-olds.
“Although the elderly are still the most frequent users of sleeping aids, the evidence found in this study shows that younger adults and children are starting to use these medications with even greater frequency,” said Robert Epstein, Medco’s chief medical officer.
“With several new medications that treat sleep disorders coming to the marketplace in the next three years, we anticipate that this trend will continue to accelerate,” he added.
The T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund predicts that the market for sleep drugs will more than double again, to $5 billion by 2010.
New Treatments
Those closest to market include a version of Provigil aimed at children by West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Cephalon, and an insomnia drug currently known as TAK-375 by Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
Of these, Provigil may be able to treat both attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and sleep problems, two syndromes that the Medco study found tend to occur together.
The Medco study found that 15 percent of the 10- to 19-year-olds taking sleep medicines were also taking drugs to treat ADHD during the first six months of 2004.
“The number of people in our analysis that have concomitant use in these two therapeutic classes is significant and warrants continued research, especially since these two conditions are accelerating at similar rates and among similar demographic audiences,” said Dr. Epstein.
However, Provigil has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of excessive sleepiness, rather than insomnia, the sleep problem most closely associated with ADHD. This would suggest it might be inappropriate in a significant proportion of ADHD patients.
A National Problem
The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that sleep disorders and deprivation cost the United States $15 billion each year in healthcare expenses and $50 billion in lost productivity.
These figures are hardly surprising given that 42 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders, according to the National Institutes of Health, and more than 35 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were written in 2004.
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=14010&hed=Popping+Pills+for+Sleep#
October 17, 2005
Prescription management company Medco Health Solutions said Monday that the use of sleep medicines in America has rapidly risen since the turn of the century.
A study conducted by Medco found that the number of 20- to 44-year-olds using sleeping medications doubled in the short period from 2000 to 2004 and rose by 85 percent in children aged 10 to 19.
The news is good for pharmaceutical manufacturers making money from sleep medicines.
The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Aventis makes the world’s most popular prescription sleeping pill, Ambien. Its annual global sales hit $1.76 billion in 2004, when Americans spent a total of $2.1 billion on sleep medications.
Overall, the Medco study found that sleep medicine spending rose 190 percent over the same period in 20- to 44-year-olds, and by as much as 233 percent for sleep medicines taken by 10- to 19-year-olds.
“Although the elderly are still the most frequent users of sleeping aids, the evidence found in this study shows that younger adults and children are starting to use these medications with even greater frequency,” said Robert Epstein, Medco’s chief medical officer.
“With several new medications that treat sleep disorders coming to the marketplace in the next three years, we anticipate that this trend will continue to accelerate,” he added.
The T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund predicts that the market for sleep drugs will more than double again, to $5 billion by 2010.
New Treatments
Those closest to market include a version of Provigil aimed at children by West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Cephalon, and an insomnia drug currently known as TAK-375 by Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
Of these, Provigil may be able to treat both attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and sleep problems, two syndromes that the Medco study found tend to occur together.
The Medco study found that 15 percent of the 10- to 19-year-olds taking sleep medicines were also taking drugs to treat ADHD during the first six months of 2004.
“The number of people in our analysis that have concomitant use in these two therapeutic classes is significant and warrants continued research, especially since these two conditions are accelerating at similar rates and among similar demographic audiences,” said Dr. Epstein.
However, Provigil has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of excessive sleepiness, rather than insomnia, the sleep problem most closely associated with ADHD. This would suggest it might be inappropriate in a significant proportion of ADHD patients.
A National Problem
The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that sleep disorders and deprivation cost the United States $15 billion each year in healthcare expenses and $50 billion in lost productivity.
These figures are hardly surprising given that 42 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders, according to the National Institutes of Health, and more than 35 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were written in 2004.
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=14010&hed=Popping+Pills+for+Sleep#