Figure 2.
R&D pipeline trends. (A) GPCRs: in 2010, there were 15 programs that targeted 10 different GPCR targets. In 2020, at the time of this analysis, there were over 240 active programs addressing >80 GPCR targets. This includes 59 mAbs in clinical development. Some antibodies are being evaluated for more than one disease indication and therefore can be at multiple stages of development. The extent of clinical success and number of programs in early discovery and development over the past decade is striking with greatest activity at the preclinical stage. (B) Ion channels: there are two antibody programs in clinical development (Ph1) targeting nfP2X7 for basal cell carcinoma (Biosceptre) and Orai1 for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (Daiichi Sankyo). Some ion channel targets have more than one program for different therapeutic indications (e.g. Kv1.3, P2X7 and CACNA2D1). Compared with 2016, there is a notable increase (~3-fold) in preclinical research and discovery activities in 2020. Ph1, Phase 1; Ph2, Phase 2; Ph3, Phase 3; Ph4, Phase 4 post-marketing studies.