Frost & Sullivan

Biologics production costs are higher, but so are the returns compared to small molecule drug, finds Frost & Sullivan’s Global TechVision Team

Over the past two decades, big pharmaceutical companies increased their focus on biologics. Several companies recorded a revenue growth of more than 10 percent from biologics during the last 5 years, and in 2015, biologics dominated the list of the top 10 drugs by revenue. Already, nearly 50 percent of AstraZeneca’s and Eli Lilly’s clinical-stage molecules are biologics. Since pharma-biotech is extremely research intensive and involves huge capital investment during the drug development lifecycle, innovator companies are guarding their intellectual property rights through patenting in target markets.

Biologics IP – A Strategic Review is part of the TechVision (Health & Wellness) Growth Partnership Service program and provides a strategic overview of the patenting activity of the top 13 pharma-biotech companies in the area of biologics. The analyses will help pharma-biotech companies understand the competitive landscape and the available white space so they can align their IP strategy with their corporate strategy.

For complimentary access to more information on this research, please visit: http://frost.ly/z5.

“Big pharma that are keen to stay ahead of the curve have harnessed the rapid improvements in the field of biotechnology and genomics, and rolled out biologics-based drugs,” finds TechVision Senior Consultant Manmohan Singh. “Key merger and acquisition deals such as Roche-Genentech and Sanofi-Genzyme were largely driven by companies’ vision of building complementary capabilities in the area of biologics.”

Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co. are the top three patent holders. Antibodies, peptides and vaccines are the top three biologics types, while the top three therapeutic areas experiencing the highest patent activity are oncology, infectious diseases and immunological disorders.

“Yet, as biologics have proved safer and more efficient than small molecules, major pharmaceutical companies are investing greater resources in the R&D of large molecule products,” notes Singh. “With biosimilars, or follow-on biologics, production is based on reference biologics after the patents for these biologics expire.”

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