LONDON, May 1 /CNW/ - Pharmaprojects, the world's leading source of
business-critical intelligence on drugs in global R&D reveals that after a
period of levelling off in recent years in the growth of the number of drugs
in development, a new era of pipeline expansion may have begun.
Pharmaprojects' unique 'Trends Search' facility, which recently published its
new data for 2007, shows a palpable increase in the number of drugs in R&D
this year (see Graph 1 above).
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070501/255794-a)
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070501/255794-b)
As the above graph shows, there had been a period from 2004-2006 of
relatively slow growth in the number of drug candidates being pursued, when
compared to significant increases seen in the early part of the decade. There
had been fears in some sectors that this lack of growth might have signalled a
permanent change in the pharmaceutical industry's fortunes and could even have
signified a point at which growth might go into reverse. Hopefully however,
this newest figure could represent the beginning of a brighter phase.
Pharmaprojects' data shows that at this time last year there were just
less than 400 fewer products under development within the industry, which
considering the cost of bringing drugs through the development process,
represents an increased investment of many millions of pounds. Pharmaprojects'
trends search also allows one to drill down into this information further and
assess how this overall increase in drug development is reflected in the
various stages of the R&D process (see Graph 2 above).
Perhaps the most encouraging result of this further analysis is that this
increase is not ascribable to a large rise in the number of preclinical
compounds, as is often the case, but that the largest increases are in the
clinical stages of drug development. As preclinical compounds stand a
relatively low chance of making it to the market, a larger increase here does
not necessarily represent a particularly positive trend. However, once a
compound makes it past the screening process to enter clinical trials, the
possibility of it successfully reaching the market increases dramatically with
each further stage achieved.
On a more cautionary note, one should remember not to jump the gun with
such analyses. As Ian Lloyd, Managing Editor of Pharmaprojects, states, "One
year's worth of promising data does not mean an end to the industry's woes.
Trends by their very nature only emerge after a number of years, making next
year's figures crucial in determining whether we are seeing a sustained
recovery or whether 2007 is merely a blip." Nonetheless, any positive trend
must begin somewhere, and this year's data makes for encouraging reading
indeed.
About Pharmaprojects
Pharmaprojects, the leading database tracking global pharmaceutical
development from early preclinical study through to launch or discontinuation,
has 27 years' experience as an information provider to the industry.
Pharmaprojects uses a fully-searchable application that allows you to pinpoint
the specific information you are looking for, whether it be comprehensive drug
profiles, a competitor's pipeline or licensing opportunities.
About Pharmaprojects' Trend Analysis
Pharmaprojects provides the unique and unparalleled ability to view
trends in the pharmaceutical industry by taking a 'snapshot' of the database
every year since 1995, allowing subscribers to compare year-on-year data
across a variety of searchable criteria including drug status, originators,
countries, therapies, pharmacologies and more. All data and diagrams contained
within this press release are taken directly from Pharmaprojects.
Pharmaprojects is available weekly on the Web and monthly via CD-ROM
format. Further details on this story as well as a wealth of information
including recent conferences, companies and drug targets are all available in
Pharmaprojects' Update Analysis newsletter. This, as well as a forum of other
free information regarding pharmaceutical R&D pipeline intelligence and demo
requests for Pharmaprojects, can be found at http://www.pharmaprojects.com.
Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070501/255794-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070501/255794-b
For further information: Ian Lloyd, Managing Editor, Pharmaprojects,
Tel: +44(0)20-7017-6886, Email: ian.lloyd@informa.com
