Cancer Research & Oncology 2018

As we approach the end of a year which saw global vaccine rollout for COVID-19, 44 novel drug approvals (to date) and the return of the CPHI Worldwide in-person event, we’re looking ahead to what 2022 has in store for the pharma industry.

Today, there are clear signs that the biopharmaceutical industry is facing a quiet yet potentially damaging force: compressive disruption. However, future-focused biopharma companies have found a way to deliver exceptional growth amidst compressive disruption: by embracing New Science, an ever-evolving combination of the best in science and health technology that is filling unmet need and raising the standard of care. Accenture research finds that leaders in New Science are investing 6-7x more in digital, data and genomics compared to their peers.

Over the past few years, the gastroenterology diagnostic market has witnessed an increase in commercial multiplex diagnostic assays for the detection of a large array of enteric pathogens. These multiplex assays differ in many aspects, one important difference being the number of enteric pathogens that the assays detect. Updated IDSA/SHEA guidelines for the management of infectious diarrhea describe a targeted approach, directing proper test utilization for the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea. The guidelines can assist with the development of targeted testing algorithms to diagnose the enteric pathogens most likely causing disease. This patient-centric targeted testing approach can be supported by using the BD MAX ™ system, which uses separate testing panels for the detection of C. difficile, bacterial, parasitic, and viral pathogens.

There are approximately 7,000 distinct rare diseases affecting 350 million people worldwide, approximately 80 percent of which are caused by faulty genes. Scientific advances such as the CRISPR/Cas9 genome-engineering system have simplified the pharmaceutical and biotech industry’s ability to develop gene therapies, especially for single gene mutation disorders. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has more than 700 active Investigational New Drug Applications (INDs) for gene and cell therapies and in 2017, the FDA approved two cell-based gene therapies and it is anticipated that gene therapy will become a mainstay treatment for many rare diseases.