Research reports from industry and university researchers continue to indicate that constipation affects a broad swathe of the population. The numbers suggest that some 10% of the population has experienced constipation within the last six months and some smaller fraction experience it on a chronic basis. Therefore the demand for constipation treatments remain large but also the industry has responded with a plethora of remedy products.
Many entrepreneurs interested in entering the market for supplying constipation treatments may be discouraged by what may seem to be a mature, stable and saturated market. The real situation however, is both more hopeful and bleak simultaneously. The reason is that there are few if any constipation remedies that are effective for everyone all the time. The market is split into various treatments of varying efficacy, with little diagnostics to distinguish which patients benefit from which treatments.
Currently, the treatment market can be divided into 4 types. There are supplemental agents, which don’t require FDA approval. There are herbal agents, which usually fall outside FDA jurisdiction but has occasionally experienced periods of regulation. There are general laxative agents that are either over-the-counter or by prescription. There are the new “targeted therapies” that attempt to address molecular and hormonal causes of constipation.
