Biologics market will reach $178.4bn in 2017

Wednesday 3 July 2013, Amsterdam

A new report by London-based business information predicts the world biological drugs market will reach $178.4bn in 2017. That forecast and others appear in World Biological Drugs Market 2013-2023, published in May 2013.

In 2012, biologics represented 15% of the global pharmaceutical market, including seven of the top 10 products. Led by Humira and Remicade, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) made up 41% of the 2012 market, fusion proteins 8%, and cellular and regenerative medicines 1%. The remainder of biologics revenues came from a range of protein therapeutics, with insulin and other recombinant hormones the most significant agents.

MAbs have the strongest R&D pipeline in the biologics market, the report indicates, with a range of next-generation technologies pushing mAb therapeutics into newer areas, including solid tumours, cardiovascular and neurological disorders. Diabetes represents a major growth opportunity for biologics, with new fusion proteins set to join Novo Nordisk’s Tresiba and other novel insulins on the market in the near future. Competition to develop the next wave of blockbusters in these areas and in the recombinant clotting proteins segment will offset revenue loss from waning erythropoietin and G-CSF products.

Dr James Evans, a pharmaceutical industry analyst, said: “Biologics were one, two and three in the top ten drugs of 2012. People talk about the biotech revolution, but biotech is now one of the dominant, established powers in the pharmaceutical industry. All the main biotechs have either been acquired by Big Pharma or become major players in their own right.

“The next big shift will come when biosimilars start to reach the market. The approval of LG Life Sciences’ biosimilar infliximab in South Korea is a sign of what’s to come. Once the EU’s new regulatory pathway for biosimilars has been established, we can expect the major markets to be inundated with biosimilars and biobetters. The entry barriers for bio-manufacturing and bio-processing have been greatly reduced, and even the suite of technologies that built the mAb market, from phage display to transgenic mice, are now off-patent and accessible to any company that’s interested. And biologics are going to become so prevalent that every major company will be interested in having a stake in that expanding market.

“In terms of the multiple-blockbuster biologics, there hasn’t been a new one since Lucentis was approved in 2006. But the market continues to expand and broaden with a stream of new additions, and that will continue. There are also plenty of new technology platforms. From the approval of the Glybera gene therapy to the ADCs and other new antibody formats, to the new wave of stem cell therapeutics, there’s still a lot of exciting innovation in this market.”

Thisreport shows revenue forecasts to 2023 at world market, submarket, product and national level. It forecasts these world-level submarkets:

• Protein therapeutics – with sub forecasts for insulins, other recombinant hormones, plasma and recombinant coagulating factors, interferons, and other agents
• Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) – with sub forecasts for autoimmune, anticancer, and other agents
• Fusion proteins
• Cellular and regenerative medicines – with sub forecasts for tissue-engineered products, cellular therapies, and gene therapy.

The investigation predicts revenues of leading drugs in the biologics market to 2023, including Lantus, Epogen, NovoRapid, Humira, Remicade, Rituxan, Herceptin and Avastin. Research, data and analyses cover activities of Roche, Amgen, Novo Nordisk, AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson and other biopharmaceutical companies.

That new study also discusses R&D and commercial activity, shows research interviews and predicts overall revenues to 2023 in leading national markets. The work analyses the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Spain, Italy (EU5), Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).