Frost & Sullivan Release: Innovative Technologies To Promote Enhanced Productivity Across The European Drug Discovery Market

LONDON, England, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite growing regulatory and pricing pressures as well as dwindling product pipelines, the European drug discovery market remains on a course of steady expansion. Competition among pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop blockbuster drugs accompanied by proactive government initiatives will have a positive effect on growth rates.

Frost & Sullivan (http://www.healthcare.frost.com) finds that European Drug Discovery Market is anticipated to grow at an annual average of 16.1 per cent to boost its revenues from $10.89 billion in 2004 to $30.96 billion in 2011.

Reinforcing these market trends will be the introduction of novel technologies that facilitate an increase in functional genomics and proteomics studies. Enhanced R&D productivity, augmented drug pipelines and improved capabilities based on outsourcing activities are also expected to sustain market growth.

"Genomics, proteomics, combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening have produced a plethora of drug targets as well as provided a tremendous increase in the amount of data available for drug discovery," comments Frost & Sullivan Healthcare Research Analyst Dr. Amarpreet Dhiman. "This, in turn, has opened the way to the development of new and previously unanticipated families of drugs and has revolutionised the nature of drug discovery in Europe."

The potential repercussions for clinical research and clinical medicine are that diseases could be treated according to genetic and specific individual markers, selecting medications and dosages that are optimised for individual patients thus introducing an era of personalised medicine.

The development of novel technologies is further driving this process. Over the last decade, technology changes have enabled the process of drug discovery to evolve into a system where researchers can find new lead molecules against novel, and sometimes, difficult targets.

For instance, innovative technologies such as RNAi have become a critical tool for validating data and in determining the links between genomics and proteomics. RNAi is now the most promising technology for target validation - currently a major bottleneck for the pharmaceutical industry - as well as in therapeutics due to its potency and range. Its ability to improve yield determination in comparison to other technologies is further underlining the appeal of RNAi.

Other technological innovations in drug discovery include technology miniaturisation and robotics-based strategies. Promisingly, these have greatly increased throughputs in compound synthesis and screening while simultaneously reducing cost and time.

"Innovative technologies that generate high-value information in a condensed time frame, while minimising the guesswork involved in target, lead and drug candidate selection will eventually lead to significant improvements in productivity across the spectrum of drug discovery operations," says Dr. Dhiman.

Drug Discovery Market in Europe is part of the Drug Discovery Technologies Subscription, which also includes research in the following markets: Drug Discovery - European Advances in Genomics & Proetomics, World Drug Discovery Contract Research Markets - A Strategic Analysis of Research Opportunities in the Top Ten Segments and, Opportunities for Bioinformatics in the European Drug Discovery Market. All research included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends. All research is evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews are available to the press.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the latest analysis of the European Drug Discovery Market (B666-55) then send an e-mail to Radhika Menon Theodore- Corporate Communications at rmtheodore@frost.com with the following information: your full name, company name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, city, state, and country. We will send you the information via email upon receipt of the above information.

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. For more information, visit www.frost.com.

Contact: Radhika Menon Theodore Corporate Communications - Europe P: +91-44-42044541 F: +91-44-24314264 E: rmtheodore@frost.com Melina Trevino Corporate Communications - Americas P: +1-210-247-2440 F: +1-210-348-1003 E: melina.trevino@frost.com Surbhi Dedhia Corporate Communications - India P: +91-22-2832 4705 Ext: 131 E: sdedhia@frost.com Jasminder Kaur Corporate Communications - Asia Pacific P: +65-68900937 E: jkaur@frost.com Sharmin Jassal Corporate Communications - Australia P: +61-2-8247-8900 F: +61-2-9252-8066 E: sjassal@frost.comwww.frost.com

Keywords in this release: European drug discovery markets, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, functional genomics, genomics, proteomics, combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening, drug targets, clinical research, clinical medicine, genetic markers, individualised markets, personalised medicine, RNAi, technology miniaturisation, ADME/Tox, HTS, cell-based assays, secondary drug screening, process development segment, target identification, target validation, lead identification, lead optimisation

CONTACT: Contact: Radhika Menon Theodore, Corporate Communications -Europe, P: +91-44-42044541, F: +91-44-24314264, E: rmtheodore@frost.com.Melina Trevino, Corporate Communications - Americas, P: +1-210-247-2440, F:+1-210-348-1003, E: melina.trevino@frost.com. Surbhi Dedhia, CorporateCommunications - India, P: +91-22-2832 4705 Ext: 131, E: sdedhia@frost.com.Jasminder Kaur, Corporate Communications -, Asia Pacific, P: +65-68900937,E: jkaur@frost.com. Sharmin Jassal, Corporate Communications - Australia,P: +61-2-8247-8900, F: +61-2-9252-8066, E: sjassal@frost.com