The year's new drugs and biologics 2018: Part I

Sixty-four new drugs and biologics reached their first global markets in 2018, the greatest number in at least a decade. In addition, 19 important new line extensions (new indications, new combinations or new formulations of previously marketed drugs) were introduced over the course of 2018. Twenty-three other new products and new line extensions were approved but not launched before December 31. As has been the trend in recent years, oncology was the most active therapeutic area in terms of new launches, with cancer drugs accounting for 25% of all novel drugs and biologics introduced worldwide last year. Eight first-in-class agents were launched for the first time in 2018, including the first RNA interference agent as well as the photo-finish approval and rollout of the first three members of a radically different class of non-vasoconstricting antimigraine agents, the anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibodies. Twenty-nine of the drugs launched last year were designated orphan drugs, reflecting the continued upswing in investment in the area of neglected diseases. This is especially true in the U.S., which welcomed 25 of the newly launched orphan drugs. Overall, the U.S. was the most active market for new drugs and biologics, accounting for two-thirds of all new launches in 2018.