Rapidly growing US sales of oncology drugs is making the sector a focus of drug development. Approximately 40% of the estimated 40,000 drugs in Phase I, II or III trials are cancer related. US sales of oncology drugs, excluding hormonal therapies and vaccines, increased 10.8% in 2009 to $18.5 billion. US sales of targeted cancer therapies rose 11.8% last year to $10.4 billion, while sales of cytotoxic chemotherapies increased 9.5%. Among the 22 targeted cancer therapies approved by the FDA are nine monoclonal antibodies and 12 are small molecule drugs. Five of these drugs represented 86% of US sales of targeted cancer therapies last year. Driving the sales of targeted cancer therapies are drugs used in combination with chemotherapies. Sales have also increased due to new indications and pricing, which cost a patient $50,000–$100,000 annually.

Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery