This Market Spotlight report covers the Cachexia market, comprising epidemiology, key marketed and pipeline drugs, clinical trials, probability of success, and licensing and acquisition deals.

Key Takeaways

• Adlumiz, an oral synthetic small molecule ghrelin mimetic, and Oxandrin, an orally active formulation of the anabolic steroid oxandrolone, are the only marketed drugs available for cachexia.
• The majority of industry-sponsored drugs in active clinical development for cachexia are in Phase I, with only one drug in Phase III.
• Therapies in active clinical development for cachexia focus on targets such as ghrelin receptor, growth differentiation factor 15, and GDNF receptor alpha-like (GFRAL). These drugs are administered via the oral and subcutaneous routes.
• The overall likelihood of approval of a Phase I metabolic-other asset is 8.7%, and the average probability a drug advances from Phase III is 72.2%. Drugs, on average, take 8.9 years from Phase I to approval, compared to 9.7 years in the overall metabolic space.
• The distribution of clinical trials across Phase I–IV indicates that the majority of trials for cachexia have been in the early and midphases of development, with 78% of trials in Phase I–II, and only 22% in Phase III–IV.
• The US has a substantial lead in the number of cachexia clinical trials globally. The UK leads the major European markets, while Japan has the top spot in Asia.
• Clinical trial activity in the cachexia space is dominated by completed trials. Helsinn has the highest number of completed clinical trials for cachexia, with eight trials.
• Helsinn leads industry sponsors with the highest overall number of clinical trials for cachexia, followed by Ono Pharmaceutical.