Market Assessment
Intercept (ICPT), a commercial-stage liver therapeutics biopharma, gained global recognition with the development and “conditional” approval of Obeticholic acid (OCA.; ocaliva) in 2016 for the orphan chronic liver disease, PBC. A milestone achievement as the first FDA-approved PBC therapeutics in 20 years, as a second line therapy used as an adjunct to the current standard care, UDCA (approved in 1997).
Although a progressive increase in sales revenue were reported for OCA in available markets, the finding that OCA therapy has a pruritus enhancing effect will always be the clinical drawback to