Competitors

Competitive pharmaceuticals for Cardiome Pharma Corp that treat arrhythmias include: Digitalis, Beta-Blockers and Calcium Channel Blockers. Other medications that slow rapid heart rhythms include: quinidine, procainamide, disopyramide, flecainide, propafenone, sotalol, dofetilide, and amiodarone (American Heart Association, 2007a). These medications are used to treat a variety of arrhythmias.

"Digitalis is a drug that strengthens that contraction of the heart, slows the heart rate and helps eliminate fluid from body tissues" (American Heart Association, 2007d). This drug is often prescribed for patients with arrhythmia who are experiencing heart failure (American Heart Association, 2007d).

Beta-Blockers are used to treat high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, and angina (Texas Heart Institute, 2007). They act by blocking the effects of adrenaline, thus slowing the nerve impulses reaching the heart (Texas Heart Institute, 2007). Some common Beta-Blockers found in Canada include: Apo-Atenolol (atenolol), Apo-Metoprolol (metoprolol), Apo-Propranolol (propranolol), Apo-Timol (timolol), Betaloc (metoprolol), Blocadren (timolol), Corgard (nadolol), Inderal (propranolol), Lopressor (metoprolol), Monitan (acebutolol), Novo-Atenol (atenolol), Novometoprol (metoprolol), Novo-Pindol (pindolol), Novo-Timol (timolol), Sectral (acebutolol), Sotacor (sotalol), Tenormin (atenolol), Trandate (labetalol), Trasicor (oxprenolol), and Visken (pindolol) (Texas Heart Institute, 2007).

Calcium Channel Blockers are medications that may decrease the heart's pumping strength and relax blood vessels (American Heart Association, 2007c). They may be used to treat high blood pressure, angina and some arrhythmias (American Heart Association, 2007c). Some common Calcium Channel Blockers include: verapamil, diltiazem, and nifedipine (American Heart Association, 2007c).

It is clear that there are impressive amounts of drugs available to the market to treat the various types of arrhythmia. It is expected that the market for arrhythmia medications will continue to grow. Possibly due to the increased life expectancy and the increase in the number of elderly as the baby boomers age, it is expected that an estimated 3.0 million people will be affected by atrial fibrillation in the U.S. in 2009 and 2.3 million people in Europe by 2009 (Cardiome Pharma Corp, 2007). It is no surprise that the sales of therapeutics to treat atrial fibrillation in seven of the largest markets globally are projected to grow to $2.6 billion by 2009 (Cardiome Pharma Corp, 2007).