STING Pathway Targeting Therapeutics and Technologies Market, 2020-2030

Overview

In recent years, promising insights from research on the cytosolic DNA sensing (cGAS -STING) pathway has caused a lot of enthusiasm within medical science community. Basically, the STING pathway offers an alternative approach to harnessing the immune system, in order to pharmacologically treat a number of clinical conditions, including oncological and autoimmune disorders. The aforementioned therapeutic benefits can be achieved using modulators of the STING/cGAS-pathway. Over the years, a number of such modulators, capable of either activating or downregulating the STING pathway, have been developed. More than 50 experimental interventions based on this relatively novel concept are currently being developed for the treatment of oncological, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.

The popularity of STING pathway modulation and growing interest of drug developers in this upcoming field of therapeutics is evident in the rising volume of affiliated scientific literature (1,000+ related articles on NCBI’s PubMed portal since 2015). Moreover, capital investments worth over USD 2.6 billion have been made by various private and public sector investors to fund product development activity. In addition, there have been multiple, high value technology licensing deals in this domain, since 2015. As a result, there has been a considerable rise in number of companies taking initiatives in this field, over the past 4-5 years alone. Interestingly, several big pharma players are also actively evaluating multiple STING agonists/antagonists. It is also worth noting that molecular research into the pathogenesis of the novel SARS-CoV-2 viral strain suggests that COVID-19 may be a STING-related disorder, characterized by delayed over-secretion of IFN-β. STING, in humans, is mostly expressed in lung alveolar epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and spleen cells, which are considered crucial for COVID-19 pathogenesis. Therefore, rapid assessments of STING polymorphisms may actually be useful in identifying individuals who are at high risks of contracting a severe form of this infection. Further, a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms associated with the novel coronavirus induced STING-pathway over-activation, may enable the development of potential therapeutic candidates against COVID-19. Currently, there are no approved STING pathway-targeting drugs/therapy products in the market. However, some promising leads are anticipated to be launched over the coming decade, following which the market is projected to grow at a substantial pace.

Scope of the Report

The “STING Pathway Targeting Therapeutics and Technologies - By Type (Agonist and Antagonist), Molecule (Cyclic Dinucleotides, Non-nucleotides, Live Biotherapeutics, Oncolytic Viruses, Synthetic Peptides and Others), Therapeutic Area (Oncological Disorders, Inflammatory Disorders, Infectious Diseases and Other Diseases), Route of Administration (Intratumoral, Intravenous, Subcutaneous, Oral and Others) and Geographical Regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific): Industry Trends and Global Forecasts, 2020-2030” report features an extensive study of the current market landscape and future potential of these therapeutics and affiliated technologies, over the next decade. This study focuses specifically on small molecule STING modulators. The report features an in-depth analysis, highlighting the diverse capabilities of stakeholders engaged in this domain.

In addition to other elements, the study includes:

• A detailed assessment of the current market landscape of therapeutics targeting STING pathway, based on several parameters, such as type of STING modulator (agonist or antagonist), type of molecule (small molecules, cyclic dinucleotides, non-nucleotides, biologics and others), phase of development (discovery, preclinical and clinical), target therapeutic area(s), type of therapy (monotherapy and combination therapy), route of administration (intratumoral, intravenous and others), and line of treatment (last line, second line or greater and first line or greater). The chapter also features an analysis of the developer landscape (including information on year of establishment, company size, geography and most active players). Further the chapter includes an analysis on the clinical trials focused on STING, along with information on parameters, such as recruitment status, study design and clinical endpoints.
• A detailed chapter highlighting various technology platforms that are being actively used for the development of STING modulators and analysis based on several parameters, such as type of modulator (agonist or antagonist), type of molecule (small molecules, cyclic dinucleotides, non-nucleotides, live biotherapeutics, nanoparticles and synthetic peptides), and analysis based on technology developer landscape (including information on year of establishment, company size and geography).
• Elaborate profiles of key players that are engaged in the development of therapeutics targeting STING pathway (shortlisted on the basis of phase of development of pipeline products), featuring a brief overview of the company, its financial information (if available), detailed descriptions of their respective lead drug candidates, recent developments and an informed future outlook. Additionally, each drug profile features information on the type of drug, route of administration, target indications and current status of development.
• Tabulated profiles of industry players (shortlisted on the basis of the antagonist in pipeline products), featuring details on the innovator company (such as year of establishment, location of headquarters, number of employees, key members of the executive team and recent developments), along with descriptions of their respective drug candidates.
• A study on various grants that have been awarded to research institutes engaged in projects related to STING pathway, during the period 2015 - Q1 2020, based on multiple parameters, such as number of grants awarded, amount awarded, funding institute, support period, funding mechanism, type of grant application, grant activity code, most popular NIH department, type of recipient organization, regional distribution, most popular recipient organization(s), prominent project leader(s) and study section. It also includes an analysis of on grant attractiveness.
• An analysis of big pharma players engaged in the development of therapeutics targeting STING pathway, based on several parameters, such as portfolio diversity, type of molecule, phase of development, therapeutic area(s), type of therapy and route of administration. In addition, the chapter features a benchmarking analysis of the aforementioned players.
• An analysis of the start-ups/small players (established in the last ten years, less than 50 employees) engaged in the development of therapeutics targeting STING pathway, based on several relevant parameters, such as portfolio diversity, type of molecule, phase of development, therapeutic area, funding received, number of investors, type of funding, partnership activity, number of patents filed, grants received, and start-up health indexing.
• A detailed publication analysis of more than 300 peer-reviewed, scientific articles that have been published during the period 2019 - Q1 2020, highlighting the research focus within the industry. It also highlights the key trends observed across publications, including information on type of publication, year of publication, study objective, popular keywords, type of STING modulator, target pathway, therapeutic area, type of publisher, leading players (in terms of number of publications), region, first author organization and key journals (in terms of number of articles published in this domain).
• An analysis of the partnerships that have been established in the domain, over the period 2015 - Q1 2020, covering research agreements, product/technology licensing agreements, mergers/acquisitions, R&D and commercialization agreements, IP licensing agreements, clinical trial agreements, product development agreements, and other relevant deals. The chapter highlights analysis based on year of partnerships, type of partnership model, type of STING modulator, therapeutic area, technology platform, most active player(s) (in terms of number of partnerships inked), and region.
• An analysis of the investments made at various stages of development, such as seed financing, venture capital financing, debt financing, grants/awards, capital raised from IPOs and subsequent offerings, by companies engaged in this field. The chapter highlights analysis based on the number of funding instances, amount invested, type of funding, type of STING modulator, therapeutic area, technology platform, most active player(s) (in terms of number of funding instances), most active investor(s) (in terms of number of funding instances) and geographical region.

One of the key objectives of the report was to estimate the existing market size and identify potential future growth opportunities for novel technologies designed for the development of STING pathway modulators. Based on the likely licensing deal structures and agreements that are expected to be signed in the foreseen future, we have provided an informed estimate on the evolution of the market over the period 2020-2030. The report features likely distribution of the current and forecasted opportunity across [A] type of STING modulator (agonist and antagonist), [B] type of molecule (non-nucleotides, cyclic dinucleotides, live biotherapeutics, oncolytic viruses, synthetic peptides and others) [C] therapeutic area (oncological disorders, inflammatory disorders, infectious diseases and other disorders), [D] route of administration (intratumoral, intravenous, oral, subcutaneous and others), [E] type of technology licensing payment/revenue (upfront payments and milestone payments) and [F] key geographical regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific). In order to account for future uncertainties associated with the growth of market for therapeutics targeting STING pathway and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three forecast scenarios, namely conservative, base and optimistic scenarios, representing different tracks of the industry’s growth.

The opinions and insights presented in this study were influenced by discussions conducted with several stakeholders in this domain.

The report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with the following individuals:

• Krzysztof Brzózka (Chris) (Chief Scientific Officer, Ryvu Therapeutics)
• Glen N Barber (Chief Executive Officer, STINGINN)

All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. Financial figures mentioned in this report are in USD, unless otherwise specified.