The monoclonal antibody (mAb) market has grown rapidly in recent years, reaching sales of $14bn in 2005, an increase of 36.5% from 2004 sales of $10.3bn. K?hler and Milstein developed the hybridoma method of murine antibody production in 1975, which allowed the production of the first mAb to market; Johnson & Johnson?s Orthoclone OKT3 (muromonab) in 1986.

The mAb market is highly innovative and a key trend has been the move from murine to humanized and fully human antibodies. As technology has progressed these humanized mAbs have prevented immune responses (HAMA), thus having a larger market potential.

The traditional therapy areas in the mAb market are oncology and autoimmune and inflammatory disorders (AIID), however this is forecast to change with the emergence of other therapy areas including infectious disease and ophthalmology.

The clear leader in the mAb market is Genentech with 5 marketed drugs, with sales totaling $4,116.4m in 2005. A key theme of this report is the high level of innovation, as demonstrated by advancements in antibody engineering with the introduction of chimeric, humanized and fully human mAbs.

Other innovation in antibody technology include advancements in non-invasive drug delivery technology, which is predicted to lead to a huge boost in sales in the long-term once drugs that utilize this technology come to market.