Opioid drugs act on the opioid receptors present in the central and peripheral nervous system. The drug class primarily used in relieving pain includes natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic opioids. Codeine, morphine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, heroin, and fentanyl are some of the major prescription drugs in the global opioids agonist drugs market. Opioids can be administered as oral pills, parenteral, liquids, patches, or lozenges. Overdose and drug abuse is a major concern for health regulators worldwide, with the situation especially alarming in developed regions with easy access to these drugs. According to the World Drug Report 2016, a staggering 17.4 million people were affected by opioid drug abuse. Drug and health regulators are therefore, taking initiatives to govern pain prescriptions and curb the rate of opioid abuse. The U.S. FDA considers all opioids as schedule 2 drugs—drugs that have high abuse potential. In 2016, the CDC issued guidelines to prescribe opioids, limiting the daily dose of opioids to 90 morphine milligram equivalent (MME).
Market Dynamics
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates published in 2015 by the American Pain Society, nearly 50 million people in the U.S. suffered from chronic pain. Use of opioids in cancer pain, orthopedic pain, neuropathic pain, post-operative pain, and lower back pain is very effective. With growing incidence of chronic pain, demand for opioids will also increase consequently.
North America is the largest market for opioids owing to availability of branded prescription and local products, which inadvertently also leads to drug abuse. There are local unbranded products available for every opioid derivative complementing the available prescription opioid brand. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that 73% of all drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2015 were due to opioids (57% in 2010). Moreover, emergence of cannabis as an alternative to opioids and legalization of the same in various regions is inhibiting the opioids market growth.
Market Taxonomy
This report segments the global opioids agonist drugs on the basis of drug type, application, and geography. On the basis of drug type, the global opioids market is categorized into codeine, morphine, fentanyl, methadone and hydrocodone. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into pain management, diarrhea and cough treatment. Pain Management is further segmented into Neuropathic Pain, Migraine, Back Pain, Osteoarthritis Pain, Cancer Pain, and Others. For comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, the global opioids market is analyzed across key geographical regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East. Each of these regions is analyzed on basis of market findings across major countries in these regions for a macro-level understanding of the market.
Key features of the study
Market Segmentation
Market Segmentation
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