Therapeutic proteins market forecast to reach $103 billion by 2014

Driven primarily by strong demand for engineered antibodies for treating a growing list of cancers, commercial protein drugs - a group that includes recombinant monoclonal antibodies, cytokines and related immune modulators, growth factors, enzymes and hormones - are forecast to increase at a 9.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next four years, reaching a value of $103 billion by 2014, according to the latest estimates from Greystone Research Associates.

“Growth in this sector will come from increasing demand for oncology treatments and the continued strong performance of biological drugs for treating autoimmune diseases,” explains George Perros, Greystone Research managing director.

However, performance across all therapeutic segments will be uneven. “While still a young industry by pharmaceutical standards, several protein drug market segments are beginning to show signs of maturing, creating a new set of challenges for pharmaceutical and biotech decision makers,” he said.