ADC Market To Reach $3 Billion By 2018, Report Finds
By Cyndi Root
According to a new report from Research and Markets, Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are so effective against cancer, that the global market for the agents will reach $3 billion by 2018. The analytical company announced the results of its study in a press release, stating that major pharmaceutical companies and their investments in ADCs will shape the market in the coming years. Analysts state that the “magic bullet” promise of ADCs is now being realized due to technological advances, and the recent approvals of Kadcyla and Adcetris are examples of ADCs’ potential.
According to the Research and Markets report titled, “Global Antibody Drug Conjugate Market Outlook 2018,” ADCs are quickly moving forward but face challenges in the high cost of production, difficulty in processing, and safety. The report covers approved drugs, agents in the pipeline, and discusses the key players in the ADC field.
Industry Players
The report mentions Agensys, Immunogen, Immunomedics, Roche, and Seattle Genetics as major investors in ADC technology. It reports on approved ADCs such as Kadcyla and Adcetris and discusses Glembatumumab vedotin in clinical trials.
Roche’s Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine) was Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved in February 2013 for patients with HER2-positive, metastatic breast cancer. Roche states that it has been studying ADCs for over ten years and believes ADCs are useful for indications other than cancer, such as neuroscience. The FDA approved Seattle Genetics’ Adcetris in 2011 for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and a rare lymphoma known as systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL).
Glembatumumab vedotin (CDX-011) is an ADC that targets glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB). Celldex Therapeutics recently announced that it published two papers on its agent in breast cancer and metastatic melanoma. The Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) published, "A Phase 1/2 Study of the Antibody-Drug Conjugate Glembatumumab Vedotin in Patients with Advanced Melanoma" and "A Phase 1/2 Study of the Antibody-Drug Conjugate Glembatumumab Vedotin in Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer.”
Takeda is also involved in ADCs, recently licensing, through its subsidiary, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Mersana Therapeutics’ Fleximer-ADC candidate for oncology indications. Mersana’s biodegradable polymer system is a proprietary technology to deliver anti-tumor payloads.