Singapore: Cancer treatments are becoming increasingly personalized, as regulators are approving therapeutics offering significant benefits to small target populations, according to a new report by healthcare experts GBI Research.

The new report states that although therapeutic options that target a small population are expensive, their uptake is expected to be rapid in the target population.

The approval of Pfizer's Xalkori (crizotinib), which treats only five percent of the total non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient population, and the change in Erbitux's coverage of the colorectal cancer patient population (from every patient to wild type V-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) patients) indicates a shift in focus to more personalized cancer treatment.

The launch of novel pipeline molecules such as Avastin, T-DM1, Afinitor, Iniparib, Afatinib, V503, Tykerb and Thera CIM, is projected to add $2,979m in revenue by 2018. These novel molecules are expected to be launched during the next six years, and are expected to increase progression-free survival, therefore promising a better life to many cancer patients. The molecules are also expected to address the safety and unmet needs of various cancer treatments for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, NSCLC and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL).

The development pipeline contains targeted therapeutics in phase III, which are expected to be launched during the next few years to drive growth in the oncology market. Pipeline drugs include protein kinase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies and vaccines, with a total of 1,198 molecules under investigation.