Top 20 Most Valuable Global Pipeline Drugs of 2019: NPV-Based Market Potential Analysis by EvaluatePharma

Editor’s Note: This article is republished from PharmaCube, authored by Qing Wa. VCBeat has been authorized to repost it.

EvaluatePharma recently released the “EP Vantage 2019 Preview” report, which assessed the market potential of new drugs under development worldwide using the net present value (NPV) method.

Regarding net present value (NPV), it can be simply understood as “the monetary value of a new drug asset at a specific stage of research and development.” The table below lists the 20 most valuable investigational new drugs worldwide as of November 15, 2018.

Top 20 Investigational New Drugs with the Highest Global Net Present Value

Unit: USD 100 million

According to the ranking, Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ “triple therapy” for cystic fibrosis is listed as the most valuable late-stage treatment regimen globally, with a net present value of up to $14.4 billion, far surpassing other projects.

In fact, shortly after the list was released (on November 28), Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced that two Phase III studies had evaluated the efficacy and safety of the triple-combination regimen of VX-659, tezacaftor, and Kalydeco (ivacaftor) in patients with cystic fibrosis. The results showed that the triple therapy met the primary endpoint of significant improvement in lung function.

An analysis reveals that the total net present value (NPV) of the 20 investigational new drugs on the list reaches $110.4 billion. Celgene has four projects included: the CD19 CAR-T therapy JCAR017, ozanimod for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), the BCMA CAR-T therapy bb2121 jointly developed with Bluebird Bio, and luspatercept, which is poised for regulatory submission. The cumulative NPV of these projects exceeds $20 billion.

Notably, few large pharmaceutical giants have projects in the top 20 by net present value; only GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) CD19 and BCMA antibody–drug conjugate project (GSK2857916) and Pfizer’s Rituxan biosimilar project (PF-05280586) are included.

Among the 20 shortlisted projects, seven target oncology indications, while other selected indications include Alzheimer’s disease, NASH, hemophilia A, and rheumatoid arthritis.