GBI Research provides business intelligence reports based on “… the insights of key industry leaders to ensure you stay up-to-date with the latest emerging trends in your markets.” GBI stands for Global Business Intelligence.
I’ve recently come across one of their releases titled Europe Adopting US Strategies to Diagnose and Treat ADHD.
This is essentially a business analysis of the potential sales of ADHD drugs. Here are some quotes:
“European countries are increasingly adopting the US diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV), resulting in more and more diagnoses of ADHD. Clearer guidelines for diagnosis of ADHD in both adults and children and revisions to ADHD treatment methods will be released in the DSM-V in 2013, superceding [sic] the DSM-IV which was last revised in 2000. This may possibly result in a rise in ADHD diagnoses in the US, and potentially further afield.”
“The US leads the pack in terms of ADHD treatment, holding the highest diagnosis rate for both adults and children. The ADHD market has shown a steady increase in the number of prescriptions in the pediatric population, although this has started to slow down and has potentially reached a plateau. The market will continue to grow, however, due to the increase in the number of adult patients being diagnosed and treated. A relatively open attitude to psychiatric treatment, as well as direct-to-consumer and physician marketing, is leading to increased rates of adult ADHD diagnosis in the US.”
“Currently, disease recognition is much less frequent in Europe than in the US, resulting in a much smaller market size.”
“Although Europe trails behind the US in terms of market revenue, ADHD therapeutics markets are expected to show strong growth, with Spain predicted to witness a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8% over 2012-2018, beating the US CAGR of 6% during the same future period. European markets have not yet neared the saturation point that ADHD therapeutics are facing in the US, and there is an optimistic view for ambitious growth in this region.”
“The ADHD market in the US was valued at $3,831m in 2011, and is expected to grow to reach $6,260m by 2018. In contrast, the ADHD therapeutics market across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK was valued at $135m in 2011, and is predicted to reach approximately $182m in 2018.”
Of course we’ve always known that psychiatry-pharma is primarily a business operation, but seeing the figures and the projections of this iatrogenic damage being laid out so matter-of-factly makes it seem even more obscene.