The Acute Hospital Care Market Is Worth Over $3 Trillion, And Windtree Therapeutics Brings A First-In-Class Drug To An Active Segment Of This Market

The global acute hospital care market was worth $3.2 trillion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.62% from 2023 to 2030. By 2025, nearly half of the population is projected to be diagnosed with a chronic condition due to factors such as the increasing geriatric population and rising prevalence of chronic diseases. 

Within the acute hospital care sector, the largest segment of revenue was emergency care, which made up around 53% of all revenue in 2022. These emergency care situations can include burns, trauma, stroke and heart attacks. 

Cardiovascular disease is an increasingly significant contributor to ill health. In the U.S., over 6 million adults suffer from heart failure, and heart disease remains the leading cause of death, making up one in every five deaths in 2021. The congestive heart failure (CHF) market was worth $6.7 billion in 2022.  

Windtree – A Way To Invest In The Heart Disease Treatment Market?

Investors have shown themselves wary of investing in biotech companies since the boom and sudden decline in the sector, which included widespread layoffs and cutbacks, in 2022. As of this writing, the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index NBI is down slightly more than 4% year-to-date. For investors, it can be important to find a company in a niche that combines stability with the potential for exponential growth. 

Windtree Therapeutics, Inc. WINT, a biotechnology company treating late-stage acute cardiovascular disorders, believes it offers this kind of attractive opportunity for investors looking to get involved in the acute hospital care market through its focus on cardiogenic shock.

The global market for cardiovascular drugs is worth $146 billion, and North America makes up the largest segment of the market. Multiple major pharma companies, like AstraZeneca AZN, Bristol Myers Squibb BMY and Novartis NVS are all investing in cardiovascular treatments. However, these companies are generally focusing on treatments for chronic heart disease.

Windtree’s Drug Istaroxime For Cardiogenic Shock – A Severe Form Of Heart Failure

Windtree Therapeutics, on the other hand, is working on a treatment for the critical emergency condition, cardiogenic shock (CS). CS is a critical heart condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood around the body, resulting in a combination of dangerously low blood pressure and hypoperfusion to vital organs.

Unlike chronic cardiovascular conditions, there is less market competition in treatments for hospital cardiovascular conditions. According to Windtree and its market research, there are no adequate drugs for CS available and no other drugs in development, and the company is looking to address this unmet need with its first-in-class drug candidate, Istaroxime.  

The drug has already gone through three positive phase 2 trials, and recent data from a CS study leads Windtree to believe this drug can have a relatively fast and inexpensive route to development and regulatory approval. It has demonstrated a robust differentiated safety profile and can improve blood pressure and cardiac function at the same time without increasing the risk of adverse heart events.

Windtree milestones and news flow over the next several quarters: cardiogenic shock SEISMiC Extension Study, SCAI Stage C Study and SERCA2a Activator advancement (IP, publications).

Windtree is in a position where it claims it can either partner with another pharmaceutical company or successfully finish development and its approval and commercialize this drug by itself. It has a detailed strategy for value generation and has reduced company expenses to focus capital and resources on its lead programs.

Big biopharma companies could potentially also be interested in Windtree as an acquisition target for Istaroxime and its pipeline of drugs, given their recent interest in treatments for cardiovascular disease. Windtree’s Istaroxime could be an attractive choice for acquisition in this segment of the biopharmaceutical market.

This year has already seen major investments in treatment-resistant hypertension (RHTN), with AstraZeneca acquiring Cincor Pharma, Inc. for approximately $1.8 billion. Cincor is a biotech firm focused on treatments for RHTN and uncontrolled hypertension. Then, Mineralys Therapeutics MLYS, a company focused on specialized treatments for hypertension, made an initial public offering in February 2023 and raised gross proceeds of $220 million.

Learn more about Windtree Therapeutics’ position in the acute hospital care market

Featured photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.  

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