What products are on the market or are expected?

Biotechnology has created more than 200 new therapies and vaccines, including products to treat cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and autoimmune disorders. Therapies under development include those for: heart disease, stroke, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis, and sleep apenea. Six new technologies are likely to experience significant change within the next one to three years, resulting in the highest rate of product and market development. The top four are: (1) fermentation, (2) bioprocessing, (3) biotransformation and (4) bio-manufacturing. These were followed by (5) energy and environment and (6) personalized medicine. These market-related technologies are expected to experience significant change within the next one to three years. Six other market-related technologies are expected to undergo similar but slower spurts of growth: (1) advanced drug delivery systems, (2) drug design, (3) culture and manipulation of cells, stem cells, tissues, and embryos, (4) diagnostic tests, (5) bionanotechnology, and (6) regenerative medicine.

Increasing costs associated with bringing new products to market can dampen growth. The time between a discovery and market can be as long as eight to ten years, and the process can cost up to $800 million. However, the pace of patent applications, and approval of California pharmaceuticals and medical devices has increased. At least 643 new drugs are in the pipeline today.