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| |  New Developments in Monoclonal Antibodies Are Hopeful MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- March 28, 1996 -- Monoclonal antibodies represent hope to millions of patients who suffer from debilitating or terminal illnesses, such as cancer, autoimmune disease, acute inflammations and sepsis. A new study by Frost & Sullivan, THE U.S. MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY MARKET, states there are many antibodies in development or clinical testing for rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, psoriasis, lupus, inflammatory bowel diseases, and multiple sclerosis. Patients suffering from these diseases need treatments that are more effective than what is currently available. The most significant development in this market was the approval of ReoPro, which prevents reclotting of arteries cleared by balloon angioplasty. ReoPro was the first monoclonal antibody therapeutic product to obtain regulatory approval. Quite a few companies have tackled the road to orphan drug designation in an effort to protect their products. Congress passed the Orphan Drug Law to help companies develop products for diseases where there is a small patient population. Without this protection, companies would not invest in developing these products because they would not be able to recoup or make reasonable profits on their investment. Companies such as Cutogen Corp., ImmunoGen, Immunomedics, IDEC Pharmaceuticals and Medarex have orphan drug designations for their compounds. The humanization of murine monoclonal antibodies and the development of completely human monoclonal antibodies is an important trend because human antibodies do not cause immune responses. Just about all companies in this industry are humanizing their antibodies or developing completely human antibodies. The success of new products that could generate millions or hundreds of millions in revenues, depends on the technology used to develop products and financial resources to test products in clinical trials. Companies cannot succeed in the monoclonal antibody business without investing in technology to develop safe and effective products but it is a market that is long on potential, but short on commercial revenues. Interest in this industry is based on a large patient population that can be helped by new products. The total revenue potential of the anti-cancer monoclonal antibodies is close to $1.0 billion, which is less than the multi-billion dollar potential of autoimmune disease therapies. This report includes forecasts on monoclonal antibody veterinary medicine, contract manufacturing, research reagent, fertility testing, cardiovascular therapeutic, inflammation therapeutic, autoimmune disease therapeutic products, sepsis products, organ transplant products, and cancer diagnostic therapeutic products. Frost & Sullivan is an international medical market research and consulting firm headquartered in Mountain View, California. It produces a variety of strategic, worldwide industry and customer research reports. An executive summary of this report is available.
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