Antibody Therapeutics
Monoclonal antibodies are a hugely important human drug class, surpassing $130B in revenue in 2020 and is projected to grow at around 11.3% per year into 20251.
harnessing the potential of antibody therapeutics
Antibodies are natural molecules that our bodies produce to fight illness, and can be harnessed to treat cancer, inflammation, and a host of other conditions. Their optimal properties as a medicine are highlighted by the fact that they have two-to-three times the success rate from phase 1 human trials to approval when compared to small molecule drug candidates2,3. There is a huge need for these therapies in veterinary medicine, as in the USA alone there are 6M cases of cancer diagnosed each year in dogs, and a similar number in cats4, and one in four American dogs is diagnosed with some form of arthritis5.
The first monoclonal antibody for therapeutic use in humans received marketing approval 35 years ago, over 100 have since been approved and more than 50 are in late stage clinical development. In contrast, the use of antibodies in veterinary medicine is in its early stages with just a small number of antibodies having approved by regulators to date. The limited progress reflects the fact that developing species-specific therapeutic antibodies is technically challenging and only a relatively recent endeavour.
PetMedix is building platforms that will allow us to harness the huge potential of antibody therapeutics, using the most up to date scientific and technological approaches. We will use our platforms to make high quality, fully species-specific antibodies to a wide range of targets in dogs and cats.
1 https://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/antibodies-market
2 Hélène Kaplon & Janice M. Reichert (2019) Antibodies to watch in 2019, mAbs, 11:2, 219-238, DOI: 10.1080/19420862.2018.1556465
3 Hay, M., Thomas, D., Craighead, J. et al. Clinical development success rates for investigational drugs. Nat Biotechnol 32, 40–51 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2786
4 Cekanova and Rathore (2014) “Animal models and therapeutic molecular targets of cancer: utility and limitations” Drug design, development and therapy 8:1911-1922
5 Bland (2015) “Canine osteoarthritis and treatments: a review” Veterinary Science Development 5
