The Challenges Of Moving A Bioconjugate Candidate From Clinic To Market

By Iwan Bertholjotti, director of commercial development of bioconjugates, and Dr. Bernhard Stump, head of development of bioconjugates, Lonza Biotech

The current bioconjugate market is defined by its complexity and uncertainty, and drug developers must successfully manage technical and financial risks under the growing pressures of regulation and competition. These issues are compounded by an increasingly intricate supply chain driven by several distinct components of bioconjugate development, as well as a pervasive lack of expertise across the biotherapeutic sector.

The market outlook for bioconjugates and antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) is one of positive growth. Mammalian-microbial biotherapeutics are expected to grow at an 8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the coming years, and monoclonal antibodies are anticipated to represent a significant segment of that market share. Concurrently, new molecular formats are anticipated to grow at triple the rate of monoclonal antibodies, which currently dominate the biologics pipeline.