Clarivate Analytics, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation, today announced the launch of its annual Cortellis "Drugs to Watch " list, which identifies 11 new drugs that are scheduled to enter the market in 2020 and predicted to achieve annual sales of $1 billion or more (i.e., blockbuster status) by 2024.

The Cortellis team at Clarivate Analytics has applied its proprietary technologies, tools and techniques, to produce the list of potential drugs for inclusion from drugs that advanced to phase II trials or beyond in early 2020. Each drug was subsequently scrutinized by in-house analysts - researched and evaluated in its individual context by interrogating annual filings, drug pipelines, clinical trials, patents, chemistry, deals, conferences and company announcements and regulatory status.

This year, editors and writers from award-winning life sciences news service BioWorld have examined the various disease landscapes from all angles, analyzed the pricing strategies, explored the science underpinning the new medicines to provide reality checks via the ultimate test: patients and advocacy groups who will seek beneficiary outcomes from the new drugs entering the market in 2020.

The list and corresponding analyses focus on the treatment and possible cure for chronic, progressive and often debilitating diseases and conditions, including drugs which target the indications of breast cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), migraine and type 2 diabetes.

The drugs listed have been almost universally accelerated in their development by orphan drug status or other designation intended to speed their path to market. There is a high level of expectation of commercial success for each of these drugs - despite the fact that most medicines on the list are entering or are poised to enter markets already crowded with competitors, meaning they'll face substantial pressures to differentiate themselves. Many are expected to tout improved safety vs. alternative therapies, especially regarding cardiovascular risk, while others will seek to highlight novel mechanisms of action or even curative potential.

More than half of the medicines on the list are biologics, a fast-growing and increasingly expensive segment of prescription medicines for which regulators and payers alike have sought to rein in costs during recent years. Gene and cell therapies – represented on this year's list by hemophilia A therapy Valrox (Biomarin Pharmaceutical, Inc.) and lisocabtagene maraleucel (Bristol-Myers Squibb Co) for large B-cell lymphoma, respectively – have drawn particular attention for their high costs. If approved, Valrox will be crowned as the first potential curative approach for severe hemophilia A. The one-and-done therapy will be transformative as it corrects the genetic defect underlying the condition and eliminates the need for blood transfusions and FVIII replacement therapy. If, as expected, it takes a leadership position it could become the most expensive drug ever to reach the market with a cost of $2.5 million – $3 million per treatment.

Lynn Yoffee, News Director, BioWorld, "Despite the ongoing tension among scientific innovation, commercial motive and public good, as medical research and the pursuit of innovative medicines continues to accelerate, the success of these drugs will bring hope to many – if they can afford them - and seek to provide the benefits of novel mechanisms of action alongside curative potential."