Product pipelines. Clinical Trials. Challenges.
As interest in the human microbiome increases, most of the research has been focused on opportunities around the gut microbiome, and this is reflected in the data; the majority (60%) of respondents' companies work in the gastrointestinal area. However, there are numerous opportunities in other areas, such as autoimmune disorders and the gut-liver axis (34%), oncology (34%), the gut-brain axis (25%) and dermatology (10%).
As expected, most respondents' therapeutics are not yet in clinical trials both in Europe and North America, whilst just 13% have reached Phase III.
*Excluding Not Applicable (55)
What type of products are your company focused on/are in your pipeline?
Though clinical trials are still in early stages for the majority of therapeutics, there is relative optimism around pipelines. When asked to rate from 1-10 how robust their company's current pipeline is, 62% of respondents answered with 6 or above, giving an average score of 5.83/10. US respondents were slightly more positive than their European counterparts, with an average of 6.24 versus 5.89.
The types of product in those pipelines are dominated by emerging technologies (39%), probiotics (34%) and platforms (33%), with prebiotics (19%) and FMT (15%) lagging behind.
The most common technologies being used to aid this research and development are modulation of the gut microbiota (44%) and next-generation sequencing methods (43%). Other technologies added included:
*Excluding Not applicable (55)
When asked what the biggest challenge facing research and development, answers were fairly evenly split between regulation (25%), mechanisms of action (24%), investment and competition (19%), data standardization (17%). For Europeans, regulation is the biggest challenge (30%), whilst just 22% of North Americans said it was the biggest challenge they were facing.
*Excluding Not applicable (30)
