The demand for biologics such as monoclonal antibodies and vaccines will continue to expand in the US during the next five years, according to predictions in a new industry report. The report, published by the Freedonia Group in Cleveland, Ohio, attributes the predicted annual 6.5 % growth in demand to advances in production technologies and an increasing number of novel disease targets.

“The report analysis is consistent with what we see in market trends, but also in translational research trends,” says Terry Flotte, dean of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and acting head of MassBiologics, a University-associated nonprofit manufacturer of licensed vaccine and biologics.

Biologics are typically engineered biological products such as medicinal proteins. Doctors use them to treat a variety of conditions, such as diabetes, certain cancers and rare genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis.

Monoclonal antibodies topped the list of biologics with expanding demand; this category is projected to rise by nearly 50%, from about $21 billion last year to about $31 billion in 2015, because of a slew of new products coming out of labs. “Growth in the monoclonal antibody sector is absolutely to be expected, and it will come in a number of subcategories,” says Flotte, who was not involved in the analysis. He particularly highlighted the infectious disease sector and targeted cancer therapy sector.

To highlight the advantages of monoclonal antibodies over other types of biologics, Flotte cites rabies as an example. “If you get a dog bite now, you get rabies immunoglobulin,” he says. Immunoglobulin, also a biologic product, is in short supply world-wide and too expensive for developing countries, where it needed most. Anti-rabies monoclonal antibodies are far more affordable and easy to mass-produce. So scientists are conducting clinical trials and a market-ready rabies antibody is imminent.

Vaccines are another big player in the biologics market. According to the Freedonia report, the demand for vaccines will grow from $11 billion to $16 billion, with an annual growth of 6.7% in demand.

Report author Diana Gurley, a healthcare industry analyst, attributes the predicted growth in this sector to a dramatic increase in the number of childhood vaccines and a rise in adult booster shots. An example of the latter is pertussis or whooping cough. “Originally it was a childhood disease, but the immunity wanes over decades such that we started seeing outbreaks in high school students and in adults,” Flotte explains. Now teens receive pertussis vaccine boosters, and adults are encouraged to get them as well. The fact that local pharmacies are now equipped to administer flu and pertussis shots has also contributed to demand growth.

While 6.7% per year growth is definitely significant, it is a slowdown from the 10.5% annual growth seen in biologics within the last five years. The reason for this apparent drop is not less demand, but lower pricing of the products—a result of many biologics going off patent in the next few years. But although the product market value will drop, due to pressures such as US healthcare reform, the volume and usage of biologics in the next five years will steadily increase.

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