The Economic Opportunity
The potential for stem cell therapeutics and regenerative medicine to mitigate or cure disease represents an enormous economic opportunity. Even the most conservative estimates value the total market in the US$8-9 billion range over the next five years. TriMark Publications, LLC, a global leader in market research and intelligence for biotechnology, healthcare and life sciences, forecasts the global market for stem cell products and services to $104 billion by 2012. Some stem cell-based products are already on the market such as Carticel® (autologous chondrocytes, marketed by Genzyme), and Apligraf ® (a skin substitute manufactured by Organogenesis using human and bovine fibroblasts). As of July 2011 there were over 1500 ongoing US Food and Drug Administration approved clinical trials involving adult stem cells. The development of new drugs that act on stem cells will also become an important component of the regenerative medicine market. For example, erythropoietin (Epo), a drug that expands red blood cell volume by targeting the differentiation of blood progenitors, has been widely deployed in the clinic to treat anaemia. Amgen's portfolio of drugs generated gross revenues of $15B in 2010.
