BUSINESS NEWS

According to a report released in September, the number of patients in the United States with diseases that are potentially treatable with neurodevices is currently 78 million, or about 28% of the total population. "It's a fragmented market," says Alexander Arrow, MD, an analyst for Lazard Capital Markets (New York City) and principal author of the report, titled Medical Technology for Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Psychiatry. "But it's one that is beginning to shape the neurophysician groups that use these devices—much the same way that early use of arterial balloon catheters in the 1980s created the interventional cardiology market that now dominates the cardiovascular space."

Through the end of this decade, Arrow believes, growth of the entire neurodevice marketplace will outpace the growth of medtech in general. The global neurodevice market is currently valued at around $2.3 billion, increasing to $4.6 billion in 2010, for a compound annual growth rate of nearly 19%.

Analyst estimates of the current size and scope of the neurodevice market vary, but most reports agree on at least one point: the sector's potential for growth is significant. According to The Neurotechnology Industry 2006, a report by NeuroInsights (San Francisco), neurological diseases and psychiatric illnesses represent the largest and fastest-growing unmet medical market.

The NeuroInsights report breaks the $110 billion neurotechnology industry into three sectors: neuropharmaceuticals, neurodevices, and neurodiagnostics. While the neurodevice sector's estimated annual revenue of $3.4 billion represents the smallest of the three slices, its 21% annual growth rate far exceeds those of neuropharmaceuticals and neurodiagnostics, at 7% and 11%, respectively.

Another report, The Market for Neurotechnology: 2006–2010 by Neurotech Reports (San Francisco), estimates that the market for neurotechnology products will reach $3.07 billion in 2006 and grow to $7.62 billion by 2010.