Oncology therapeutic pipeline boasts over 6,000 products

Oncology drugs have the largest pipeline in the pharmaceutical industry, with 6,484 products in active development across all indications, says GBI Research.

Analysis from business intelligence provider GBI Research states that the majority of oncology therapeutics are in the early stages of the pipeline, with 2,937 at the Preclinical stage and 1,591 at the discovery stage.

This vast pipeline suggests significant opportunities for new market entries in the oncology treatment space.

Managing Analyst Dominic Trewartha said, “The oncology therapeutic pipeline is highly diverse, containing a broad array of mechanisms of action. This contrasts heavily with the market, which predominantly consists of chemotherapy, hormonal and central nervous system targets.

“Signal transduction targets, cancer antigens and receptor tyrosine kinases are the three most common categories of pipeline product across all stages of development.

“In addition, there are a large number of first-in-class products in development for oncology, with 2,084 across all stages, and 46% of pipeline products have a disclosed target. This indicates a very high level of investment in the development of innovative products in this therapy area.”

Oncology remains a highly attractive therapy area

GBI Research’s report adds that a significant characteristic of the oncology treatment pipeline is the overlap between indications, with 24% of first-in-class products in development across at least two of the key types of cancer.

The analyst continues: “Within the oncology segment, cancers of the breast and lung have the highest levels of developmental activity, with a total of 913 and 804 pipeline products, respectively.

“Breast and lung cancer are characterised by very large patient populations and huge markets in terms of revenues, which are likely to have been the driving factors behind the substantial pipelines for each disease.

“Oncology remains a highly attractive therapy area for a range of reasons, including significant unmet needs, a large target patient population, high therapy costs, and a multitude of molecular targets that could confer substantial disease-modifying properties to therapeutics.”