Immunology: investors are tapping into high growth specialty medicines

A Feature analyzing how - and why - immunology remains a steady area of investment for big pharma and private investors.

According to the US pharmaceutical trade body  PhRMA, there are more than 800 medicinal products in clinical development to treat chronic diseases. Many of these drugs target immunological disorders which include autoimmune arthritis (81), cutaneous inflammatory conditions (including psoriasis (67) and atopic dermatitis (41) inflammatory bowel disease (58) (including Crohn’s disease (29) and ulcerative colitis (39)), lupus (39), multiple sclerosis (32) and type 1 diabetes (34).

During the last two decades, the therapeutic armamentarium for immunology diseases has been transformed to include broad-spectrum immune modulators and highly specific monoclonals. Large pharma has invested heavily in this field and is now reaping the rewards. In 2021, AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) secured pole position with total immunology revenues of $25.24 billion, followed by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Roche (ROG: SIX) (Figure 1).