Expanded Indications, Novel Targets Driving Activity In Autoimmune Disease Therapeutics

Already a major
therapeutic disease sector accounting for drug sales in excess of $18
billion worldwide, the incidence of autoimmune disease in developed
countries is increasing. The impact of autoimmunity on patient
quality-of-life is well known, but it has only been in the last ten
years with the introduction of biological drugs capable of modulating
the immune cascade that effective therapies for this most intractable
family of diseases have become available. The result has been a drug
sector that has grown rapidly to include more than a half-dozen
products with annual sales exceeding $1 billion.



The past few years have been marked by expanded indications, creating
new treatment options for caregivers and their patients. But in spite
of these recent successes -- and in part because of them -- work to
identify and develop new therapeutic candidates has intensified.



As with virtually any drug with significant efficacy, side effects
remain a major issue. Much of the current wave of development
activity is focused on the search for new classes of autoimmune drugs
that achieve a therapeutic benefit with minimal side effects. These
approaches include drug candidates that target specific immune
response processes, such as inhibiting the action of adhesion
molecules or interfering with the migration of activated immune cells
from lymph nodes.



Arthritis, because of its market size and economic importance, is
often the therapeutic target for pipeline therapies in this sector,
while less prevalent disease segments benefit almost exclusively
through secondary or expanded indications. The outlook for the
psoriasis segment is closely linked to the commercial market for
arthritis treatment, due to the significant prevalence of psoriasis
patients to suffer from psoriatic arthritis.



The Greystone research study 'Autoimmune Disease Therapeutics'
analyzes approved and development-stage therapeutic drugs for six
major autoimmune disease segments, and includes forecasts, analysis,
descriptions and evaluations of current and probable future market
developments, technology issues, and business factors.



More information is available
here.



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development, product commercialization, and technology and market
assessment.


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