Potential Markets for GC-C Agonists

Chronic Constipation
Chronic constipation is a common gastrointestinal disorder affecting up to 26 million Americans. Within this population, roughly 5 million have the severe condition necessitating relief. The incidence of this disorder is similar in other developed countries, including Europe and Japan. Patients with chronic constipation often experience hard stools, straining during bowel movements and insufficient bowel movements per week. People with chronic constipation typically experience serious discomfort, adversely affecting their ability to work and their quality of life.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Up to one out of six adults experience inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS) in the US, a condition marked by disturbed bowel function and abdominal pain. IBS patients fall into three categories with different symptoms; diarrhea-predominant (IBS-D), constipation-predominant (IBS-C), and mixed or alternating disorder (IBS-M). The number of individuals in each category is about 33% of the total number of IBS patients. An estimated 10 million people in the US suffer from IBS-C, with about 2.5 million experiencing at the severe form of the condition. IBS (all forms) accounts for approximately 12% of all adult visits to primary care physicians in the US. An equivalent amount of people, roughly 10 million, suffer from the condition in the EU.

Inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of two related conditions: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the intestine, but usually occurs in the small bowel. UC occurs only in the lining of the colon. The effort to develop new effective therapies to treat IBD has been a major goal of the pharmaceutical industry for some time. There are approximately 700,000 people in the US with UC, and 500,000 in the EU. About 430,000 people suffer from Crohn’s disease in the US and about 400,000 in the EU.

Sources:

Datamonitor report DMHC2292. Irritable Bowel Syndrome. 2007.

Datamonitor report DMHC2260. Inflammatory Bowel Disease. 2006.

Higgins PD, Johanson JF. Epidemiology of constipation in North America: a systematic review. Am J Gastroenterol. 2004 Apr; 99(4):750-9.

Bracco A, Kahler K. Burden of chronic constipation must include estimates of work productivity and activity impairment in addition to traditional healthcare utilization. Am J Gastroenterol. 2004;99:S233.

Schiller LR, Dennis E, Toth G. Primary care physicians consider constipation as a severe and bothersome medical condition that negatively impacts patients' lives. Am J Gastroenterol. 2004;99:S234.

Irvine EJ, Ferazzi S, Pare P, et al. Health-related quality of life in functional GI disorders: focus on constipation and resource utilization. Am J Gastroenterol. 2002;97:1986-1993