Holy Grail - Multi Billion $$ Market The group Alzheimer's Disease International estimates there are now 36 million people with the disease worldwide and that the number will almost double to 66 million by 2030. So treating Alzheimer's is considered the Holy Grail for the pharmaceutical industry, one of the few therapeutic areas where a new medicine could achieve the multibillion-dollar blockbuster scale achieved by the likes of Pfizer's cholesterol fighter Lipitor.