MS Drug Market Growth Hinges on Biosimilar Wave

The multiple sclerosis drugs market is forecast to grow at a steady but unspectacular pace over the next decade, expanding from $22.3 billion in 2025 to $39.7 billion by 2036, according to a new report from Transparency Market Research. The 5.4% compound annual growth rate masks a more consequential shift already underway: a string of generic and biosimilar approvals that could reshape who profits from treating one of neurology's most expensive chronic diseases.

Generics Gain Ground on Established Brands

Four separate regulatory developments between November 2025 and January 2026 point to accelerating competition in the disease-modifying therapy segment. Zydus Lifesciences secured U.S. approval for a generic version of Vumerity, Lupin received tentative clearance for generic siponimod, and ScinoPharm Taiwan won approval for a generic glatiramer acetate injection.

Perhaps most notable is Sandoz's December 2025 U.S. launch of TYRUKO, a biosimilar to natalizumab, a high-efficacy infusion therapy that has long commanded premium pricing. Biosimilars for monoclonal antibodies are technically harder to develop than small-molecule generics, so their arrival typically signals a maturing therapeutic category rather than an early-stage one.

For patients and health systems, this generally means more negotiating leverage against list prices that have made MS treatment one of the costlier categories in chronic disease management. For originator companies including Biogen, Roche and Novartis, it raises the pressure to keep developing newer, patent-protected therapies to offset erosion from off-patent products.

Why the Market Still Keeps Growing Despite Generic Pressure

Rising disease prevalence and improved diagnostic access are expanding the pool of patients eligible for treatment faster than price competition can shrink per-unit revenue, according to the report. Earlier diagnosis means more patients start disease-modifying therapy sooner and remain on treatment for longer, a dynamic that tends to support volume growth even as average prices soften.

The split between administration routes also matters commercially. Parenteral treatments, including monoclonal antibodies, held the largest share of the market in 2025 at 56.3%, reflecting continued reliance on high-efficacy infusions for patients with more aggressive disease activity. Oral therapies are gaining traction for their convenience, but the report suggests injectable and infusion-based options remain central where specialist supervision and stronger efficacy are priorities.

Long-range forecasts of this kind are becoming a fixture across specialty pharmaceutical and industrial sectors alike, with analysts increasingly projecting decade-long growth curves built on demographic and regulatory assumptions; a similar pattern appears in the aerospace coatings market set to hit $4.1B by 2030, where forecasters likewise anchor growth projections to structural demand trends rather than short-term price swings. In both cases, the headline figures matter less than the underlying shifts in competitive structure that determine who captures the value.

North America's dominant position, with 39.7% of 2025 revenue, reflects both higher diagnosed prevalence and faster adoption of newer therapies in that region, though the report does not break out growth rates by geography through 2036. Reimbursement restrictions, pricing pressure and the complexity of developing treatments for progressive forms of MS remain the primary constraints identified in the outlook. Whether the market reaches its projected $39.7 billion ceiling will likely depend less on new blockbuster drugs than on how quickly biosimilars and generics are absorbed into mainstream prescribing without undermining the incentives for continued innovation in progressive disease treatment.