Decision Resources, a research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, forecasts that the asthma drug market in China will experience dramatic growth, due to an expanding prevalent population. <BR><BR>According to a recent report of the company, the diagnosed asthma population will increase 57 percent in the next five years. An expanding population will be the key driver of this dramatic growth, but increases in the uptake of more expensive drugs, such as the combination product Seretide from GlaxoSmithKline, advocacy and promotion by the Chinese Asthma Alliance (a coordinated effort that promotes asthma prevention and treatment, improved physician education, and initiation of asthma studies), and an expanding middle class will affect the expanding drug market as well. <BR><BR>The report also finds that currently, there are significant barriers to diagnosis, such as the lack of disease awareness, difficulty establishing a differential diagnosis from other respiratory diseases, prohibitive cost of medical attention, lack of diagnostic technology, difficulty discerning variable symptoms (especially in a wheezing child), and the social stigma of asthma (individuals are embarrassed by not being able to breathe and therefore do not seek treatment for their symptoms). Chinese physicians also struggle with low compliance rates among their patients, further constraining optimal drug sales.<BR><BR>"Although the current asthma diagnosis and drug-treatment rates in China are low, the China Asthma Alliance is making strides in implementing new practices to better identify and treat patients," said Vickie Lai, analyst at Decision Resources. "This change presents an opportunity for multinational corporations (MNCs) to reach a larger potential patient population."