An analysis of 1,027 human drug targets in active preclinical or clinical projects, excluding multiple-target projects, in Citeline’s 2013 Pharmaproject database has found 58% are being worked on by more than one company. Of the 247 proven targets for which drugs have previously been developed, 88% are being worked on by multiple companies, with four or more companies working on 64%. Of the 712 novel targets for which no other drug has ever been approved, 82% are being worked on by up to three companies, but 54% are the subject of only one company’s research. Many of the novel targets are associated with neurodegenerative diseases. The number of companies working on a novel target increases by development phase. Among the top 10 pharmaceutical companies, there are 72 novel targets being researched by more than four firms, but 57 novel targets that only one company is researching.

Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery