TOP 20 Biologics now with sales of US$ 37.7 bln in 2005

The Business Intelligence firm La Merie S.L. reported today that 19 of the TOP 20 selling biologics achieved sales of over US$ 1 bln in the year 2005. The strongest growth rates were found for therapeutic antibodies (Avastin: + 141%; Humira: +64 %; Herceptin: +48 %) which made out 6 of the 20 biologics. Erythropoietins continue to be the number one selling class of biological products (excluding vaccines), but with overall modest growth and conversion from the native protein to the longer-acting glycoengineered. Sales of the major cancer antibodies (US$ 6.77 bln) came closer to sales of the TNF-targeting biologics (US$ 7.64 bln). Recombinant insulin-based products are the number 3 best selling class of biologics. The only antiviral antibody among the TOP 20 biologics achieved for the first time sales of over US$ 1 bln. These results and more were found in a search conducted by La Merie Business Intelligence published in the February 13 issue of R&D Pipeline News, edited by La Merie, and can be found at La Merie’s News Center and Online Store PipelineReview.com The document contains listings of the sales of the TOP 20 blockbuster biologics, of the 12 best selling classes of biologics and of selected other biologics and is available this week free as a download at www.pipelinereview.com.

About La Merie

La Merie S.L. is a Business Intelligence enterprise fully dedicated to provide high quality R&D information to the biopharmaceutical industry. La Merie offers individual consultancy services and publishes reports and periodicals. For more information visit www.lamerie.com.

About PipelineReview.com

PipelineReview.com is the News Center and Online Store of La Merie Business Intelligence focused on Research and Development in the Biopharmaceutical Industry. Visitors of PipelineReview.com will find R&D relevant press releases and can receive selected R&D news from one or more of the site’s News Channels. A free R&D Newletter conveniently brings via e-mail a daily selection of the most intersting news from biopharmaceutical R&D. For more information visit www.pipelinereview.com.

About R&D Pipeline News

R&D Pipeline News is a premier information source about research and development projects in the pipeline of the biopharmaceutical industry and is directed to all stakeholders in R&D. The weekly publication comes in a rapid- and easy-to-screen tabular format and provides access to the original information source via hyperlinks. R&D Pipeline News covers all relevant treatment modalities and is directly delivered to the desktop via e-mail. More information about the journal, a free trial and subscriptions are available via La Merie’s Business Intelligence Center www.pipelinereview.com.