According to a report published by Research & Markets, one of the world’s largest and most respected market research resource, the global market for Antibody-drug Conjugates is anticipated to reach around US$ 3 Billion by 2018. The report ‘Global Antibody Drug Conjugate Market Outlook 2018,’ explains that the expected growth is backed by improved understanding and better technology.
For more than a century, the concept of a magic bullet to deliver cytotoxic therapy to the site of tumor has been envisioned, but only recently the technological advances enabled antibody-drug conjugates to fulfill that dream. The recent approvals of brentuximab 
vedotin (Adcetris®; Seattle Genetics) and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla™; Genentech/Roche) followed by various antibody-drug conjugates in the pre-clinical and clinical pipeline highlight the potential for new therapeutic innovations.
Advanced stage of development
The report also provides an insight into the key antibody-drug conjugates currently advanced stage of clinical trial, with glembatumumab vedotin (also known as CDX-011 and CR011-vcMMAE), a fully-human monoclonal antibody-drug conjugate that targets glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB), being developed by Celldex Therapeutics, as one of the many examples.
Other drugs covered in the report include: Coltuximab Ravtansine (SAR3419; Sanofi), Indatuximab Ravtansine (BT-062; Biotest), Anti-PSMA ADC Therapeutics (Progenics Pharmaceuticals); Polatuzumab Vedotin (RG7596; Roche/Genentech), Pinatuzumab Vedotin (RG7593; Roche/Genentech), Lifastuzumab Vedotin (RG7599; Roche/Genentech) and Anti-guanylyl Cyclase C/Anti-GCC ADC (Takeda: Millennium).
Further, the report highlights the antibody-drug conjugates with respect to the type of cancer targeted, and specific cytotoxic drugs used.
Industry collaboration
Strategic activities such as mergers, acquisitions and collaborations that have taken place in the antibody-drug conjugate space are also included in the report. The authors review these activities, aimed at combining technologies and capabilities of other companies with inherent ones, for the development of ADCs.
Patent fencing
Major drivers such as advances in linker technology and patent fencing through ADC development have been discussed. In an attempt to protect their innovative blockbuster drugs, many pharma giants are moving towards ADCs. These moves are going to have a major impact in shaping the ADC market in the coming years. On the other hand, challenges such as the high cost of production of ADCs, difficult upstream and downstream processing, safety considerations, etc., will have to be taken care of.
Major players
The authors also discusses the major players involved with ADCs, including, Seattle Genetics, Immunogen, Roche/Genentech, Agensys, Inc. and Immunomedics. A brief business overview of each player along with their product and pipeline portfolio and recent developments is included. The report concludes with a comparative strength and weakness analysis of these players. Overall, the report will prove to be a complete source of knowledge and analysis for clients and potential investors.
Adcetris® is a registered trademark of Seattle Genetics; Kadcyla™ is a registered trademark of Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group.
