Vascular Disease

Vascular disease is by far the largest unmet medical need in the industrialized world. Annual costs in the U.S. alone are about US$450 billion, according to the American Heart Association. To date, there has been very little development for therapeutic antibodies in this sector. Our current clinical trials are aimed at demonstrating MABp1 treatment benefit when given contemporaneously and subsequent to revascularization procedures (ie. stent placement in an artery). We believe, however, that successful results in these trials will demonstrate a wider utility for our antibody in broad areas of vascular disease.

As has been previously demonstrated by other antibody products, being the first antibody therapy in a sector can have an important impact in market staying power. If XBiotech can achieve first-to-market status for its anti-vascular disease treatment, the potential market success for this product could be substantial.

The (small molecule) drug sales in the vascular disease sector are significant. Plavix, which is widely used after stent placement in revascularization procedures, generated more than US$9 billion in sales in 2010.