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Biotechnology Businesses Seeing Major Rise

The business of biotechnology has been booming in recent years. There have been plenty of new developments in the industry, which promise to bring new solutions to disease, agriculture and an overall improvement in the quality of living. According to Arrowhead Publishers? new report entitled Biotech in Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disease 2006, 2nd Ed., the value of biological drugs indicated for autoimmune diseases, which affect up to 5% of the total world population, was roughly $11 billion in 2005. Remicade, Enbrel, Humira and Avonex currently lead the autoimmune field. These drugs are transforming the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In addition, novel therapies for psoriasis, asthma, and lupus will in the near future add tremendous revenue to an already rapidly growing field.

Medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological business advances are increasingly supporting the use of biological drugs in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Indeed, biologics are having a major impact on the treatment of those diseases for which there has been significant unmet need for decades. As the new drugs are capable of targeting disease-causing proteins in a more specific fashion, while also carrying lower risks of adverse side effects, they have considerable advantages over traditional treatments.

Biologics are now the financial leaders in the therapy markets for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. There is strong competition for the leadership position in the market for psoriasis treatment. The first ever biologic for the treatment of allergic asthma was approved in 2003 and in lupus, biologics are entering late-stage development and will within the next five years make their mark on a disease with significant unmet need.