With the increasing need for new therapies for cancer, autoimmune disorders and Alzheimer’s disease, monoclonal antibodies are proving very successful due to their high affinity and specificity for their target antigens. In cancer, for example, their first use was as antagonists of oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinases, but today monoclonal antibodies have emerged as vehicles for the targeted delivery of potent chemotherapeutic agents and as powerful tools to manipulate anticancer immune responses. Currently,
more than 30 antibody therapeutics are marketed worldwide. Some analysts predict that, given the rate of current revenue growth and potential new approvals, the global market could reach $58 billion by 2016. In addition, there are hundreds of monoclonal antibody-based biologic drugs in various phases of clinical trials worldwide.
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