Summary
Large Degree of Innovation in Parkinsons Disease Pipeline
The Parkinsons disease (PD) pipeline currently has 302 products in active development across all stages, but a stark contrast between the mechanisms of action employed in the current market and the pipeline is evident. Where the market relies on symptomatic treatments that target neuromodulatory receptors, the pipeline shows a diverse range of neuroprotective therapies targeting dysfunctional disease processes. This diversity is partially due to the presence of 90 first-in-class products, which accounts for 37% of the overall pipeline therapies that disclosed their target. In an industry, market and development landscape that favors first-in-class over non-first-in-class development in many ways, such as through faster approval or greater revenue, this finding has strategic implications for a wide array of market participants, both large and small. Despite their historically high attrition rate, first-in-class therapies that reach the market have the potential to transform and improve the PD treatment landscape.
Alignment of First-in-Class Molecular Target with Disease Processes and Genetics
PD is a complex and multifaceted disease with a complex interplay between different pathological processes. Enormous research efforts and significant technological advances have furthered knowledge of the neuroanatomy of the basal ganglia and of the fundamental processes underlying neurodegeneration, helped by the ongoing identification of susceptibility genes and causative genes in familial PD. Although the exact mechanisms that initiate onset remain unclear, these insights have been translated into the pool of novel therapeutic targets, which may potentially become disease-modifying therapies by aligning to the disease processes and some genetic determinants of PD.
GBI Researchs proprietary analysis showed substantial variation in how well the functional roles of PD first-in-class targets align to the pathophysiology of PD. Further in-depth analysis identified the most promising first-in-class targets based on various scientific and clinical parameters. Examining scientific and clinical data of promising first-in-class targets showed that first-in-class status is not, in its own right, enough for a successful product; however, the first-in-class products substantiated by scientific and clinical evidence will be exciting future prospects with the potential to transform the PD market.
First-in-Class Products in Licensing and Co-development Deals
Strategic consolidation is relatively uncommon in the PD market. Concerning first-in-class specifically, only nine first-in-class products that are currently in development have been involved in licensing or co-development deals since 2006. Despite the low sample size, it is clear that the first-in-class PD products offer an attractive investment prospect as they command much higher deal values and, on average, deals occur earlier in development compared to non-first-in-class counterparts. Both trends were substantiated by industry-wide data that showed that, particularly in Phase I, first-in-class products would attract larger mean and median total deal values. The data highlight that the first-in-class deals landscape is different and indicates a greater chance of becoming much more lucrative than the deals landscape for addition-to-class or advance-in-class therapies.
A total of 81 first-in-class products that are currently in development have not yet been entered into a licensing or co-development deal. Under a growing unmet need for disease-modifying therapies and increasing understanding of disease processes allowed by technological advances, there are numerous opportunities for strategic alliances to bolster a first-in-class portfolio or fund clinical developmen
