Piribo, the online destination for business intelligence for the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, has now added a new report which finds that the Monoclonal Antibodies (mAb) market has overcome its shaky beginnings twenty years ago to currently generate global revenues of about $20 billion.

"Monoclonal Antibodies Report Part I" finds that mAbs are the fastest-growing segment within the pharmaceutical industry, and are expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% between 2006- 2012. The study says this puts the mAb market far ahead of the small molecules market.

Several factors have played a role in the success of the mAb market. One of the most important factors is the evolution of antibody technology which makes current blockbuster products chimeric or humanised mAbs, and so far removed from the murine (mouse derived) products that were first introduced.

Analysts say that mAb drug developers have also launched a range of mAb products after the phenomenal commercial success of Rituxan/MabThera for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in 1997. The launches of key products such as Avastin, Herceptin, Remicade, MabThera/Rituxan, Humira and Erbitux have placed the market at an inflection point of maximum sales growth.

Also driving the revenue expansion in the market will be the launch of new products like UCB-Celltech's Cimzia (certolizumabpegol) for Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Significant market products like Genentech and Roche's Avastin (bevacizumab) with a broad-spectrum mode of action will be used to target a wide range of tumour types.

Authors of the report cite the example of just five monoclonal antibody products - Avastin, Herceptin, Humira, Remicade and Rituxan - accounting for 80% of total mAb revenues in 2006, and predict that these big five will continue to dominate the market in the next five years allowing Genentech/Roche, which has ownership of three of the big five, to retain their stranglehold over the mAb market.

The study says however that market growth could slow down post 2012 as a result of competition between rival mAb products and second-generation product launches eating into the sales of first-generation mAb products

The report analyses the mAb market assessing trends by product, company, therapy area, technology and target type. It also shows how mAb technology is evolving and compares pipeline products. The study identifies the key products that will drive sales growth in the mAb market to 2012 and outlines challenges for new players entering the market.
"Monoclonal Antibodies Report Part I" is available in pdf format from Piribo. For more information, go to:

http://www.piribo.com/publications/research_development/monoclonal_antibodies_report_part.html

Piribo product ID: DAT808

About Piribo.
Piribo (http:www.piribo.com) is a UK-based independent online store supplying business information on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The website now carries over 6,000 English language titles including, market reports, studies and books and is the UK's largest online biopharma information store. Subscribers receive a free monthly newsletter and email alerts on new titles in their areas of interest. The company was established in 2004.