Use of biomarkers in clinical trials to grow at blistering pace

With regulators forging new guidelines on research efforts and drug developers in search of more efficient ways of discovering drugs that work, new research from Espicom Healthcare Intelligence concludes that the use of biomarkers in clinical trials will grow at a blistering 38 percent annual pace through 2015.

While it's still early days in the field, the study concludes, biomarkers will play a growing role in clinical research programs as investigators use them to find the best candidates earlier in the R&D process. "The application of biomarker techniques will shift attrition rates to earlier in the R&D process, enable the reallocation of resources to high probability candidates and help with the development of diagnostics."

Espicom's "Biomarkers: Applications and Trends" does sound a cautionary note, though. "The return on investment is difficult to assess due to the immaturity of the market," but opinion leaders in the industry believe that biomarkers will play a big role in the development of a new generation of therapeutics and diagnostics.

- here's the Espicom release for more info