Report predicts steady growth in gene therapy market

With the final act of sanofi-aventis’ dramatic pas-de-deux with Genzyme wrapping up (last time we checked, sanofi-aventis extended its $18.5 billion hostile takeover bid), attention has been drawn to the gene therapy market, which according to a recent market research report, promises to be “one of the most important frontiers in medicine.”

RNCOS, a firm in India that specializes in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry intelligence, has released a new report, “Global Gene Therapy Market Analysis,” which predicts that the global gene therapy market will “grow stupendously in the coming years.”

“Presently, large pharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in both, developing such drugs internally and acquiring such candidates from others,” RNCOS says in the report. “The inherent specificity and predictability of gene therapy have shorten the duration of drug development and increased rates of success in preclinical and clinical trials, relative to non-biological ‘small-molecule’ drugs thus, boosting the further growth of the industry.”

Back in 2008, San Jose, Calif.-based market research firm Global Industry Analysts Inc. predicted that the gene therapy market would reach $484 million by 2015, so it certainly seems that this market is on pace for that rapid growth.

RNCOS notes that although no significant achievements for curing disease have been achieved, advancements in gene therapy have provided useful data, which has helped in understanding the pathogenesis of diseases.

“The discipline heralds a significant potential for the biotechnology industry over the long term, as the approach moves from research labs to clinical trials,” the firm says.

RNCOS notes, however, that the gene therapy market is still at the experimental stages, with success yet to be achieved in completely developing curative therapeutic drugs.

Among the markets showing healthy growth rates are the United States, Europe, Canada, China and Japan, according to the report.

“Our study indicates that the highest growth rate in the developing countries’ gene therapy market is likely to be observed for the treatment of cancer, followed by infectious diseases like AIDS,” RNCOS says.

In addition to our ongoing coverage of sanofi-aventis’ bid to acquire Genzyme, Drug Discovery News has recently reported on several business agreements among companies that are engaged in this type of research. For some of our recent stories, see the following:

City of Hope leads first successful use of RNA interference to treat HIV infection

Expressing themselves: Aragen and CEVEC sign agreement covering novel human expression system

Stanford researchers find non-viral way to make iPS cells