Thanks to the mapping of the human genome and the discovery of a few blockbuster drugs, biotechnology's nearly abandoned antibody sector is experiencing a resurgence.
Stock prices are rising, antibody drugs are selling briskly and public perception of the science is better than it has been in years. This may bode well for curing cancer, the target of most antibody research.
Traditionally, most cancer drugs indiscriminately attack all rapidly growing tissue in the body, hoping to kill more bad cells than good ones. Drugs derived from monoclonal antibody research take a different approach: They target only specific features on specific cells.
Antibodies are able to recognize and bind to specific antigens on cancer cells and slow their growth. By using antibodies to attack mostly cancer cells while leaving healthy ones alone, patients face fewer side effects and greater odds of survival.
Today, there are 12 antibody drugs on the market, up from only two in 1996, and 25 percent of all biotech drugs in clinical trials are related to antibody research, according to Walter Newman, senior vice president at Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
New drugs
In May, Novartis Pharma AG introduced Gleevec, a leukemia drug considered so important that Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson personally announced the government's approval. Without harming healthy cells, Gleevec targets a protein that causes a rare leukemia.
Business analysts expect antibody company sales to increase to US$14 billion by 2009, up from US$2 billion this year.
Just a few years ago, Wall Street and scientists alike soured on monoclonal antibody research. The niche tumbled so far that the drug companies nearly abandoned it as too expensive and too prone to failure.
The biggest problem: Most disease-fighting antibodies were made in mice, so human immune systems rejected the treatments.
Failed drug experiments cost billions of dollars.
Critics even blamed them for deaths. Several class-action lawsuits against the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center allege that its antibody research in the early 1990s was unethical and caused several cancer patients to die. The center denies any wrongdoing.
Renewed excitement
These days, there's renewed excitement in the 25-year-old field that helped spark the biotechnology industry. Now, some companies can clone entirely human genes for insertion into mice that generate antibodies.
"One of the biggest things that has happened has been the humanizing of mice antibodies," said Dr. Christopher Widnell, scientific program director of the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society. "You get markedly less rejection."
The big strides made in genomics also have contributed to the field's resurgence.
``The mapping of the human genome has created numerous new opportunities for us,'' Donald Drakeman, president and chief executive of Medarex, said as he met with other industry executives in late June this year at BIO2001, the world's largest annual biotechnology conference.
Drakeman expects his company will be able to research and develop 10 drugs at a time by this year as opposed to the one or two that Medarex is currently working on.
The recent mapping of the 30,000 human genes makes it easier for antibody researchers to identify the exact genetic makeup of thousands of diseases and design new drugs accordingly.
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