Getting Personal for Blockbusters in 2023

For the past 10 years, Clarivate has published its Drugs to Watch report annually, highlighting therapies that are deemed to have blockbuster potential (i.e., achieving sales of more than US$1 billion [€931 million] within five years). However, as patient populations being targeted by industry are becoming smaller and disease areas more niche, the methodology employed by Clarivate to create its ‘watch list’ has required some adjustment. Therefore, for the 2023 report, Clarivate has expanded its methodology to also recognize therapies that have the potential to transform treatment paradigms, even if those treatments are forecasted to fall short of the annual sales required to classify them as blockbusters (1).

Thanks to the revised approach, the Drugs to Watch 2023 report, published on 10 Jan. 2023, has produced a list of 15 therapies—more than double that of 2022—that are, for the most part, treatments targeted to a specific biomarker (1). The drugs that have been selected for 2023 as ones to watch are: bimekizumab for plaque psoriasis; capivasertib for breast cancer; daprodustat for chronic kidney disease-related anaemia; deucravacitinib for plaque psoriasis; foscarbidopa/foslevodopa for Parkinson’s disease; lecanemab for Alzheimer’s disease; donanemab for Alzheimer’s disease; lenacapavir for HIV; mirikizumab for Crohn’s disease; pegcetacoplan for Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria and geographic atrophy; ritlecitinib for alopecia; sparsentan for treat rare kidney disorders; teclistamab for multiple myeloma; teplizumab for Type 1 diabetes mellitus; and valoctocogene roxaparvovec for haemophilia A. [Expanded list is provided below.]

Additionally, in the report, the Clarivate analysts highlight their trends to watch in 2023. For the analysts, some key trends include the US patent expiration for HUMIRA (AbbVie)—with the expectation that there will be an influx of biosimilars to the drug launching in the United States throughout the year—and the growing drug market in mainland China—where oncology drugs comprise the majority of the potential blockbusters, driven by the country’s latest healthcare reforms (1).

To learn more about upcoming innovations, read this month’s cover story, ‘Opening Up Opportunities in 2023,’ which provides an overview of European-specific bio/pharma industry trends, as highlighted by several industry experts.

Reference

1. Clarivate. Drugs to Watch 2023. Report 10 Jan 2023. Clarivate.com/drugs-to-watch/ (accessed 10 Jan. 2023).

About the author

Felicity Thomas is the European/senior editor for Pharmaceutical Technology Group.

Article details

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe
Vol. 35, No. 1
January 2023
Page: 6

Citation

When referring to this article, please cite it as F. Thomas, “Getting Personal,” Pharmaceutical Technology Europe 35 (1) 2023.

Expanded list of the Drugs to Watch:

• bimekizumab (BIMZELX) from UCB, developed to treat plaque psoriasis;
• capivasertib (AZD5363) from AstraZeneca, which is a treatment for breast cancer;
• daprodustat (GSK1278863/Duvroq) from GSK for the treatment of chronic kidney disease-related anaemia;
• deucravacitinib (SOTYKTU/BMS-986165) developed by Bristol Myers Squibb to treat plaque psoriasis;
• foscarbidopa/foslevodopa (ABBV-951) from AbbVie to treat Parkinson’s disease;
• lecanemab (BAN2401) developed by Eisai and Biogen for Alzheimer’s disease treatment;
• donanemab (LY-3002813) from Eli Lilly, which has also been developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease;
• lenacapavir (Sunlenca/GS-6207) from Gilead Sciences, developed to treat HIV;
• mirikizumab (LY-3074828) developed by Eli Lilly to treat Crohn’s disease;
• pegcetacoplan (EMPAVELI/ASPAVELI/APL-2) from Apellis Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria and geographic atrophy;
• ritlecitinib (PF-06651600) from Pfizer for the treatment of alopecia;
• sparsentan developed by Travere Therapeutics to treat rare kidney disorders;
• teclistamab (TECVAYLI/JNJ-64007957) from Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson for multiple myeloma;
• teplizumab (TZIELD/PRV-031) from Provention Bio for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes mellitus;
• valoctocogene roxaparvovec (ROCTAVIAN/BMN-270) developed by BioMarin Pharmaceutical for the treatment of haemophilia A.