The process of identifying a drug molecule and developing it
into a potential therapeutic has moved from the lab to the computers. Many softwares
and models are being widely used in drug discovery and development process. Even
though pharmaceutical companies have integrated biosimulation technology in
their drug discovery and development process it is predominantly used as a
decision making tool. Clinical trials of new drugs are being conducted on simulation
models to determine the sample size and effective outcome of the drug. Using
virtual patients instead of clinical research patients can save both time and
money for pharmaceutical companies in their pursuit for new drugs.
New analysis from MarketsandMarkets estimates Global Biosimulation
market to reach $1.2 billion by 2017 at a CAGR of 18.5%. Santosh kumar analyst
from MarketsandMarkets says “Biosimulation is expected to grow exponentially in
the coming decade, driven by advancements in the field of systems biology and
computational biology”. Analyst also quotes, “Pharmaceutical companies have
realized the importance of biosimulation over other new technologies, as the
future of R&D process would be based more on translational research than
the conventional research”.
North America is the major market for biosimulation and has been
driving the global market significantly. Since most of the existing drugs are
going off patents, search for new cost-effective drugs is expected to bolster
the growth of biosimulation in these regions. Europe is the second major market
for biosimulation products mainly driven by support of government regulatory
bodies which is promoting the use of biosimulation in drug discovery and
development process.
Emerging economies in Asia for example China and India are
witnessing tremendous increase in the number of pharmaceutical companies and
CRO’s. Due to these developments, biosimulation market in these economies
expected to grow moderately in the next few years.
Biosimulation
Technology Market is highly competitive with many companies trying to
capture market share with their niche capabilities, offering products and
services to pharmaceutical companies. Use of biosimulation by pharmaceutical
companies has been largely restricted to drug development which contributes to more
than 60% revenue to the global biosimulation market. The main challenge to
effective use of biosimulation is it has not been regulated. In addition to
that lack of success stories has restricted the pharmaceutical companies to use
the technology effectively. Several pharmaceutical companies have established
their own biosimulation groups which have not been effectively utilized. Also,
the current research landscape for biosimulation based drug discovery is
fraught with other challenges. For e.g., companies employ scientists all over
the world for their research work and coordination among these scientists for
better modelling and simulations requires time, cost and expertise. Therefore,
it is necessary that pharmaceutical firms come forward to collaborate with
biosimulation solution providers to create successful models which will aid in
new drug discovery and development.
The full
report is available here.
