News Analysis
Stem Cell Policy
Drug Development
AIDS in Africa
Investor Profile
Larry Ellison
Reviews
Metrics
Case Studies
Synopses
In Every Issue
Editor's Letter




spacer

Drug Development by Indication

Drug therapies that address either cardiovascular or central nervous system disorders were among the top sellers worldwide last year, and both of these therapeutic areas are generating considerable attention throughout the research pipeline. Nonetheless, cancer drugs outnumber by far all other drugs now in research and development, both preclinically and in Phase iii. Infectious diseases are also among the therapeutic classes most frequently investigated in these stages. Not surprisingly, pharmaceutical companies dominate Phase iii, accounting for two-thirds of the more than 800 drugs currently in testing. Among biotech companies, efforts in this phase are heavily concentrated in a few treatment areas; more than half of these drugs, 160, are devoted to cancer, central nervous system disorders, or infectious diseases. Conversely, in early research, biotech companies have a strong hold, representing almost two-thirds of the more than 2,000 preclinical and discovery-phase drugs. And in these early stages, drugs in development by biotech companies are relatively evenly distributed among a wide variety of therapeutic areas.


Charts accompanying text include:

Drug Sales for the Top Ten Therapy Classes

Preclinical and Discovery Pipeline, by Therapeutic Area

Phase III Pipeline, by Therapeutic Area

spacer
spacer

Metrics

BioMetrics: Agbio Plows Forward

» Pipeline: Drug Development by Indication

Capital Markets: First Quarter Comeback

BioIndex: Life Sciences Holds Steady

spacer
spacer