The Value Of Biobetters

By Hazel Gorham, PhD, Director, Biosimilars Development, PRA Health Sciences

The market of biologics is growing at a nearly twice the rate of pharma as a whole. Biologics are expected to account for approximately 17% of total global spending on medicines by 2016, and reach an overall market value of $200 billion to $210 billion in 2016, up from $157 billion in 2011.1 Seven of the top 10 global medicines by spending will be a biologic within the next 5 years.

Biotherapeutic development is costly and can take up to 15 years from discovery to market. For companies that have launched more than 3 drugs, the median cost per new drug is $4.2 billion; for those that have launched more than 4, it is $5.3 billion. Even if a company only develops 1 drug, the median spending is still estimated at a staggering $351 million.2 Cost coupled with the risk of a drug failing during experimental development, 19 in 20 drugs fail to go to market, means that companies are turning their attention to the development of biobetters and biosimilars which are perceived to have a lower business risk than developing an originator biologic product.