Chapter 25: Antitumor Biologies: Strategies for Success in an Expanding Market

Antitumor biologies: Strategies for success in an expanding market The development of biological products, specifically protein drugs, has been a cornerstone of the biotechnology industry, and it has played a key role in the advancement of cancer treatments over the past 15 years. Biotechnology researchers and companies have used major protein drug technologies – namely, recombinant DNA and monoclonal antibody (MAb) technologies – to design and produce protein drugs directed against cancer. Development of anticancer biological agents has spanned more than three decades, from the overblown excitement over interferons as cancer treatments in the late 1970s and early 1980s (which proved to be largely unfounded) to the marketed drugs of the 1990s and early 21st century. The market for biological anticancer agents exceeded $9.5 billion worldwide in 2005 and has grown at a rate of 20% annually since 2000. Biological anticancer agents can be subdivided into two categories: agents that ...

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