The increasing importance of biologics-based drugs in pharmaceutical pipelines.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 January 2014
• Author: Meininger, David

For the first time in modern history, worldwide total prescription drug sales experienced negative year-over-year growth in 2012. In contrast to conventional pharmaceuticals for which negative sales growth is projected for several more years, sales of biologic products (those derived through biotechnology) grew year-over-year in 2012 and are projected to grow continuously through at least 2018 at a CAGR greater than 7%. These growth trends reflect the relatively lower clinical failure rate for biologics vs small molecules; notably, the phase II failure rate of small molecules is nearly twice that of biologics. The industry shift toward biologics reflects their relatively...