A new report (pdf file) from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) found 418 medicines and vaccines developed through biotechnology in various stages of development to treat more than 100 diseases. The breakdown:

• 210 medicines to treat cancer
• 50 to treat infectious disease
• 44 to treat autoimmune disorders
• 22 to treat HIV Infection and related-conditions and
• 22 to treat cardiovascular diseases

The report also highlights biotech drugs such as:

• monoclonal antibodies targeting asthma, lupus and various types of cancer
• vaccines designed against AIDS and cancer
• antisense products as potential treatments for cancer and heart disease
• gene therapy testing in cancer and heart disease.

You may download (pdf file) the report here. You may also want to read the report backgrounder on some biotech drugs being developed to treat anemia, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, muscular dystrophy, and protate cancer.

[Source: PhRMA]