PUBLISHER: BioInformant | PRODUCT CODE: 1177298
PUBLISHER: BioInformant | PRODUCT CODE: 1177298
CAR-T cell therapy is a remarkably promising treatment for cancer patients. It is a type of immunotherapy where doctors collect immune cells, modify them in a laboratory, and provide them the power to easily recognize and kill cancer cells. When infused into a patient, the cells get multiplied and stay in the body as "living drugs."
T-cells form the backbone of CAR-T cell therapy. T-cells are the workhorses of our immune system and play a key role in directing the immune response and killing cells infected by pathogens. In CAR-T cell therapy, blood is drawn from the patient and the T-cells are separated out. In the laboratory, a disarmed virus is then used to genetically engineer the T-cells to produce chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on their surface. Once infused into the patient, these CARs enable the T-cells to recognize and attach to an antigen on the cancer cell, leading to its destruction.
Scientific progress within the field of cancer immunotherapy has led to seven CAR-T cell therapy approvals, including:
While Relma-cel has been approved by NMPA in China, all the other six therapies have been approved in the U.S. by the FDA.
These historic approvals demonstrate that the CAR-T market has arrived and is taking the biotech industry by storm. This has driven CAR-T funding to staggering new heights. At first the trend was subtle, but the tide has swelled as CAR-T start-ups have been richly funded by investors eager to get into this expanding area of regenerative medicine. In total, there has been an astonishing $100 billion of market capitalization from CAR-T companies in recent years.
Financing rounds by CAR-T companies have approached $4 billion, while CAR-T industry partnerships have contributed an astounding $2 billion. M&A activity has been even more aggressive, with Celgene snagging Juno Therapeutics for $9 billion in 2018 and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) acquiring Celgene for $74B by 2019. Gilead's acquisition of Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion also made waves, as did other transactions, such as Astellas Pharma's acquisition of Xyphos Biosciences and its CAR-T technology for $665 million. The billion-dollar CAR-T cell therapy market would not have been possible without the remarkable efficacy of the early CAR-T therapies in treating several types of blood cancers. Ranging from small start-ups to billion-dollar companies, CAR-T companies are proliferating in all healthcare markets worldwide.
This 321-page market report reveals: