SUI occurs during stress activities such as coughing and sneezing, and it is usually linked with pregnancy, childbirth and obesity.

In SUI, it is recommended that lifestyle interventions and physical therapies are tried before medication is used as most treatments (e.g. alpha-agonists and oestrogens) have met with limited success.

Unfortunately due to the un-met need for an effective pharmacological therapy, SUI is still considered to be a condition treated primarily by surgical intervention.

However, the indication-specific duloxetine has recently been launched in Europe and this coupled with awareness campaigns could change attitudes amongst physicians and patients.

The SUI market is in its infancy and is analogous to the BPH market a decade ago where in the absence of safe and effective pharmacotherapy, surgery was the only reasonable treatment option.

The advent of a safe and effective therapy that is approved in all countries should generate a market equivalent to that of the whole alpha-blocker market in BPH.

However, recent events (such as the withdrawal of duloxetine from USA approval) highlight the difficulties facing companies developing 'lifestyle' medications.

For pharmaceutical companies developing novel agents for SUI, the identification of development objectives that address this market direction are essential.

URODOC has considerable experience in the preparation of strategic planning reports and has been instrumental in directing research and development for novel agents in the treatment of stress incontinence.