Top Three Therapy Areas Account for 68% of Overall Pharmaceutical Industry Pipeline

The top three therapy areas – oncology, infectious diseases and central nervous system (CNS) disorders – accounted for a combined 68% of the overall pharmaceutical industry pipeline as of Q1 2016, according to GBI Research.

The company’s Innovation Tracking Factbook 2016 states that oncology is by far the largest therapy area, with almost 7,000 products in active development, almost matching the combined size of the next two therapy areas, infectious diseases and CNS disorders, which each have over 3,000 products in active development.

However, there is a great deal of pipeline activity in the next few therapy areas, with immunology, metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases each having pipelines consisting of over 1,000 products.

The report also states that the overall pharmaceutical industry pipeline increased by 5% in Q1 2016. This trend generally holds true across all therapy areas, with only CNS disorders and immunology having marginally decreased in size. The most rapid growth was witnessed in the smallest therapy areas, led by women’s health, which grew by 55% in Q1 2016.

Innovation Tracking Factbook 2016 – An Assessment of the Pharmaceutical Pipeline