Genomics-based Approaches to Drug Target Validation

Report Highlights

• Greatest growth will occur in protein microarrays, with an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of nearly 48%.
• Proteomics will see growth from $1.9 billion in 2002 to $4 billion in 2007.
• Bioinformatics should have an average annual growth of 14.7%.
• High-throughput screening will see a 14.1% AAGR through 2007.

INTRODUCTION

Drug target validation has become the critical step in maintaining profitability for pharmaceutical companies. In 2003, to replenish product pipelines, drug developers must accelerate identification and validation of potential new products. Facilitating this, genomics technologies allow companies to minimize product failures in trials and more rapidly move candidates through the development process.

In just a few years, the field of genomics has produced a vast array of technologies and products that rapidly have generated oceans of information on human genetics, disease and means of identifying “druggable” disease targets. The challenge for the next few years will be to quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively identify the most promising drug candidates from the constantly increasing plethora of possibilities.

This timely BCC report discusses the three main elements of efficiently zeroing in on viable drug candidates: target screening, target identification and target validation, with an emphasis on target validation. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the current markets for genomics-based products, services and applications as well as the potential for technologies in development. In particular, analysis is provided of the leading technologies and products in the arena of drug target validation with in-depth assessments of the companies marketing and developing these services and products.

There also is a detailed discussion of the ongoing transition of a number of genomics companies from providers of services or products into full-scale drug manufacturers and marketers. Also explored is the critical role of patents in determining leverage among genomics companies. Forecasts and trends are gleaned from industry sources as well as from considered assessments of available and emerging technologies. Forecasts for leading technologies and services used in genomics-based drug target validation are provided for 2001 and projected for 2002 and 2007.

SCOPE OF STUDY

This report provides coverage of:

• Why genomics-based drug target validation is so critical
• Definitions of the components used in genomics
• Drug target validation technologies and services including current status, obstacles, opportunities
• Companies, their technologies and profiles; industry structure, regulatory issues, role of patents
• Five-year market forecasts for genomicsbased products, services and applications.

INFORMATION SOURCES

The information and analysis presented in this report are based on an extensive survey of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. In addition, a detailed examination of published literature and reports obtained from regulatory authorities, medical research institutions, pharmaceutical trade associations, and national and world health organizations are provided as well.

AUTHOR'S CREDENTIALS

Lynn Gray has been a research analyst since 1989 and with BCC since 1996. During that time, she has authored numerous reports in the biomedical field, 18 for BCC alone. BA, University of California, Riverside, 1973.