The Comeback of Small Molecules?

 

Innovation drives progress in the development of new drugs and therapeutic biological products.
48 new drugs and biological products were approved by the FDA last year, which means new treatment options for patients and considerable advances in health. The majority of these new drugs are classified as New Molecular Entities (“NMEs”) containing active moieties that have not been approved by FDA previously and few of them are combinations of already known products.
The breakdown analysis by drug modalities is as follows: 33 small molecules (~70% = best proportion over the 4 past years), 5 antibodies, 2 peptides, 3 ADC, 2 RNA agents, the 1 nanobody (first approval for this new modality and 2 others. (see figure)

The sustainable growth of small molecule in their approval numbers by FDA  since 2016 (see figure) is remarkable.

Many thanks to Philippe Lienard for this summary.