Strong Growth in Biopharmaceutical Approvals

Biotechnology is delivering substantially higher numbers of new product approvals. During the period 2000 to 2009, 65 biopharmaceutical products received US marketing approval, nearly double the number of products approved during the 1990 to 1999 period and five times the 1980 to 1989 level.

Biopharmaceutical approvals represented one-third of all new therapeutics approved by the FDA between 2000 and 2009. This is up from 7% and 14% of all new therapeutics approved by the FDA between 1980 to 1989 and 1990 to 1999 respectively. Recombinant proteins comprise the majority of new biopharmaceutical approvals at 57% of the total. Monoclonal antibody product approvals now account for 28% of all new biopharmaceutical approvals, up from only 8% of new product approvals between 1980 and 1989. Half of new biopharmaceuticals approved by the FDA during the 2000s received a priority-review rating.

—Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, http://csdd.tufts.edu.