Legionnaires’ Disease Market

Market Overview:

The 7 major legionnaires’ disease markets reached a value of USD 369.8 Million in 2024. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the 7MM to reach USD 665.6 Million by ​2035​, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 5.49% during 2025-2035.

The legionnaires’ disease market has been comprehensively analyzed in IMARC's new report titled "Legionnaires’ Disease Market: Epidemiology, Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity, and Forecast 2025-2035". Legionnaires' disease is a serious type of pneumonia due to the Legionella bacteria, normally spread by the inhalation of contaminated water droplets from facilities like cooling towers, air conditioners, and hot tubs. The illness mostly strikes patients with compromised immune systems, the elderly, and those suffering from chronic lung disorders. Infected patients usually have flu-like manifestations, such as high fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, cough, chest discomfort, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Left untreated, the illness may evolve into life-threatening respiratory distress, renal failure, or septic shock. Laboratory tests for urine antigen detection, sputum culture, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect Legionella bacteria are used to diagnose Legionnaires' disease. Imaging procedures, such as chest X-ray, can be utilized to determine the involvement of lungs. The earlier the diagnosis, the earlier antibiotics like fluoroquinolones and macrolides must be administered since these are considered to be standard therapy.

The increasing prevalence of Legionnaires' disease, driven by aging infrastructure, growing urban water networks, and climate change, is a major market driver. Aging plumbing and cooling systems in hospitals, hotels, and commercial buildings heighten the risk of Legionella contamination, which results in increased demand for better water management solutions. In addition, worldwide climate change, which involves increased temperature and humidity, promotes the growth of bacteria, leading to increased outbreaks of disease. Increased awareness and better diagnostic measures have also gone a long way in ensuring early diagnosis and treatment. The use of rapid diagnostic technologies, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and urine antigen tests, has facilitated faster disease identification, thereby ensuring timely treatment with antibiotics. In addition, regulatory moves compelling regular water surveillance and risk management practices in public and healthcare facilities are driving market growth. Introductions of new antimicrobial products, coupled with the discovery of vaccines for Legionella bacteria, are a promising growth trend. Additionally, rising investments in water quality monitoring technologies and infection control measures are anticipated to minimize disease prevalence and encourage the demand for efficient treatment solutions in the forthcoming years.

IMARC Group's new report provides an exhaustive analysis of the legionnaires’ disease market in the United States, EU4 (Germany, Spain, Italy, and France), United Kingdom, and Japan. This includes treatment practices, in-market, and pipeline drugs, share of individual therapies, market performance across the seven major markets, market performance of key companies and their drugs, etc. The report also provides the current and future patient pool across the seven major markets. According to the report, Europe has the largest patient pool for legionnaires’ disease and also represents the largest market for its treatment. Furthermore, the current treatment practice/algorithm, market drivers, challenges, opportunities, reimbursement scenario, unmet medical needs, etc., have also been provided in the report. This report is a must-read for manufacturers, investors, business strategists, researchers, consultants, and all those who have any kind of stake or are planning to foray into the legionnaires’ disease market in any manner.

Recent Developments:

• In January 2025, Cornell researchers identified LD-transpeptidase, a key enzyme enabling Legionella survival. Carbapenems and copper may target this enzyme, offering new treatment strategies and water decontamination methods.
• In November 2024, NSW Health Pathology received $500,000 to develop a genomic surveillance system for Legionella, integrating genomics into public health monitoring to enable earlier outbreak detection and response.
• In January 2024, the U.S. EPA proposed increasing disinfectant levels in public water to curb Legionella growth, recommending 0.5 mg/L free chlorine and 0.7 mg/L total chlorine to reduce Legionnaires' disease outbreaks.

Key Highlights:

• The reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been increasing, with the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) recording its highest notification rate of 2.4 cases per 100,000 people in 2021.
• A significant portion of cases in the EU/EEA originates from Italy, France, Spain, and Germany, accounting for approximately 75% of all reported cases in 2021.
• The disease predominantly affects men over 65, with this group experiencing the highest infection rate of 8.9 cases per 100,000 population.
• Fatality rates differ based on exposure type, with healthcare-associated cases showing a higher case fatality rate of 25.8%, while community-acquired infections have a lower rate of 6.7%.
• Around 90% of Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in the U.S. could be prevented through improved water system management, highlighting the importance of proactive control measures.

Drugs:

Pazufloxacin, developed by Toyama Chemical, is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic designed for Legionnaires' disease. Administered intravenously, it targets Legionella pneumophila with strong antimicrobial activity. Clinical data support its effectiveness, making it a viable option for managing this severe respiratory infection in hospitalized patients requiring targeted antibiotic therapy.

Time Period of the Study

• Base Year: 2024
• Historical Period: 2019-2024
• Market Forecast: 2025-2035

Countries Covered

• United States
• Germany
• France
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Spain
• Japan

Analysis Covered Across Each Country

• Historical, current, and future epidemiology scenario
• Historical, current, and future performance of the legionnaires’ disease market
• Historical, current, and future performance of various therapeutic categories in the market
• Sales of various drugs across the legionnaires’ disease market
• Reimbursement scenario in the market
• In-market and pipeline drugs

Competitive Landscape:

This report also provides a detailed analysis of the current legionnaires’ disease marketed drugs and late-stage pipeline drugs.

In-Market Drugs

• Drug Overview
• Mechanism of Action
• Regulatory Status
• Clinical Trial Results
• Drug Uptake and Market Performance

Late-Stage Pipeline Drugs

• Drug Overview
• Mechanism of Action
• Regulatory Status
• Clinical Trial Results
• Drug Uptake and Market Performance

*Kindly note that the drugs in the above table only represent a partial list of marketed/pipeline drugs, and the complete list has been provided in the report.

Key Questions Answered in this Report:

Market Insights

• How has the legionnaires’ disease market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?
• What are the markets shares of various therapeutic segments in 2024 and how are they expected to perform till 2035?
• What was the country-wise size of the legionnaires’ disease market across the seven major markets in 2024 and what will it look like in 2035?
• What is the growth rate of the legionnaires’ disease market across the seven major markets and what will be the expected growth over the next ten years?
• What are the key unmet needs in the market?

Epidemiology Insights

• What is the number of prevalent cases (​2019-2035​​) of legionnaires’ disease across the seven major markets?
• What is the number of prevalent cases (​2019-2035​​) of legionnaires’ disease by age across the seven major markets?
• What is the number of prevalent cases (​2019-2035​​) of legionnaires’ disease by gender across the seven major markets?
• How many patients are diagnosed (​2019-2035​​) with legionnaires’ disease across the seven major markets?
• What is the size of the legionnaires’ disease patient pool (2019-2024) across the seven major markets?
• What would be the forecasted patient pool (2025-2035) across the seven major markets?
• What are the key factors driving the epidemiological trend of legionnaires’ disease?
• What will be the growth rate of patients across the seven major markets?

Legionnaires’ Disease: Current Treatment Scenario, Marketed Drugs and Emerging Therapies

• What are the current marketed drugs and what are their market performance?
• What are the key pipeline drugs and how are they expected to perform in the coming years?
• How safe are the current marketed drugs and what are their efficacies?
• How safe are the late-stage pipeline drugs and what are their efficacies?
• What are the current treatment guidelines for legionnaires’ disease drugs across the seven major markets?
• Who are the key companies in the market and what are their market shares?
• What are the key mergers and acquisitions, licensing activities, collaborations, etc. related to the legionnaires’ disease market?
• What are the key regulatory events related to the legionnaires’ disease market?
• What is the structure of clinical trial landscape by status related to the legionnaires’ disease market?
• What is the structure of clinical trial landscape by phase related to the legionnaires’ disease market?
• What is the structure of clinical trial landscape by route of administration related to the legionnaires’ disease market?