Biomarkers in Cancer Research
The cancer biomarkers pipeline has a total of 274 tests under various stages of development in various cancer areas, dominated by breast cancer, prostate cancer and colorectal cancer. These three cancers share a total of almost 60% of the pipeline. The other two major cancer types in the biomarkers pipeline are ovarian cancer and lung cancer with shares of 14% each. The global cancer biomarker market was estimated to be $3.6 billion in 2007 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% to reach $6.3 billion by 2016.
Growth of Personalised Medicine and Strong Regulatory Support Will Drive the Future Growth for Biomarkers in Cancer Research
The growth of personalised medicines and the strong support from regulatory agencies such as the FDA will be the two major factors that will drive the demand for biomarkers in cancer research. Personalised medicines are gaining popularity due to their ability to provide customised treatment to patients based on their genetic and medical profile. As personalised medicine gains more importance and popularity and with strong support from regulatory agencies such as the FDA, the demand for biomarkers is expected to increase. The FDA has been strongly advocating the use of biomarkers in drug discovery research as it has also formed associations that work towards the classification and discovery of exploratory biomarkers, and for qualifying and validating them for use in the clinical process. It is expected that the FDA will provide faster, more flexible, simpler and more practical regulatory norms and validation procedures for biomarkers.