Nine potential blockbuster drugs are expected to be approved in 2022 according to a recent report. These include donanemab and gantenerumab for Alzheimer's disease, tirzepatide for diabetes, deucravacitinib for psoriasis, bardoxolone for kidney disease, vutrisiran for ATTR amyloidosis, mavacamten for heart disease, cilta-cel for multiple myeloma, and adagrasib for lung cancer. All of these drugs showed significant efficacy in clinical trials and have potential to generate over $1 billion in annual sales if approved.

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9 Potential Blockbuster Drugs to be Approved in
2022
The FDA approved 50 novel drugs in 2021, down from 53 in 2020, including the first
KRAS inhibitor (Sotorasib ) for cancer and the first anti-amyloid antibody (Aducanumab )
for Alzheimer's disease.
So, in 2022, how many drugs will be approved? Which drugs have blockbuster potential?
Recently, Evaluate released a report with predictions for the industry's 2022 development.
The report states that there are 10 innovative therapies that are likely to be approved
in 2022 and are expected to be blockbusters in the future. Among them, Tezspire
(tezepelumab-ekko) has already been approved for marketing early at the tail end of 2021.
In this article, let's take a look at the remaining nine potential heavyweight therapies
together.
​ Potential Blockbuster Drugs to be Approved in 2022, Image source: Reference [1]

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Blockbuster Drugs To Be Approved in
2022
Donanemab (Lilly)
In 2021, the launch of the Alzheimer's disease therapy Aduhelm (aducanumab) was one
of the biggest concerns in the industry and the beginning of a new wave of Alzheimer's
disease R&D. Donanemab, developed by Lilly, a monoclonal antibody targeting
beta-amyloid, met its primary endpoint in a Phase 2 clinical trial, slowing clinical
progression by 32% in patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. The therapy
received breakthrough therapy designation from the U.S. FDA last June. Lilly has also
initiated a rolling submission for donanemab, seeking accelerated approval from the U.S.
FDA for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Tirzepatide (Lilly)
Tirzepatide is a GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist that holds promise for the treatment of
diabetes. In last October's issue of The Lancet, Lilly published detailed Phase 3 clinical
results of this innovative therapy.In adult patients with type 2 diabetes with increased
cardiovascular risk, all three doses of tirzepatide demonstrated better efficacy compared
to glargine insulin, with greater reductions in patients' glycated hemoglobin (A1C) levels
(2.58% vs. 1.44% at the highest dose) and body weight (-11.7 kg vs. +1.9 kg at the
highest dose), and demonstrated 2-year sustained efficacy.
Lilly has submitted a listing application to the FDA in October 2021 and plans to use a
priority review voucher. The therapy is expected to be approved in mid-2022.
Gantenerumab（Roche）

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Gantenerumab, an anti-amyloid beta antibody developed for subcutaneous administration,
has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of
Alzheimer's disease (AD). Currently gantenerumab is undergoing testing in a Phase 3
clinical trial and is expected to have clinical data in the second half of 2022. Evaluate
reports that if Roche takes the accelerated approval pathway, it is expected to make this
therapy available in 2022.
Deucravacitinib (Bristol Myers Squibb)
In November 2021, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that the U.S. FDA has accepted a
New Drug Application (NDA) for deucravacitinib, a potential "first-in-class" oral selective
TYK2 inhibitor, for the treatment of adults with moderate/severe plaque psoriasis. The
press release states that deucravacitinib is expected to be the first approved TYK2
inhibitor. In phase 3 clinical trials, this innovative therapy demonstrated significant and
clinically meaningful improvements in skin symptom clearance, symptom burden and
quality of life indicators as assessed by PASI 75 and sPGA 0/1 compared to placebo and
active controls. Moreover, it was well tolerated with a low rate of discontinuation due to
adverse events. According to publicly available information, the PDUFA date for
deucravacitinib is September 10, 2022. It is also expected to be approved in the EU in
October this year.
Bardoxolone（Reata）
Bardoxolone is an activator of nuclear factor erythroid-related factor 2 (Nrf2). Nrf2 is a
transcription factor that induces multiple molecular pathways that attenuate the
inflammatory response and tissue fibrosis process by restoring mitochondrial function,
reducing oxidative stress, and inhibiting pro-inflammatory signaling.

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Bardoxolone has met the primary endpoint and critical secondary endpoint in a Phase 3
study for the treatment of patients with Alport Syndrome (AS)-associated chronic kidney
disease, significantly improving patients' estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). It is
currently under review by the U.S. FDA. In accordance with the PDUFA date, the FDA is
expected to provide a response on or before February 25, 2022.
Vutrisiran（Alnylam）
Vutrisiran is an investigational, subcutaneously administered RNAi therapeutic in
development for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis, including hATTR and wild-type ATTR
(wtATTR) amyloidosis. It blocks the production of wild-type and variant transthyretin (TTR)
proteins by targeting and silencing specific mRNAs. In the phase 3 trial, this therapy was
obtained for the primary endpoint and all secondary endpoints. That is, statistically
significant improvements in important domains of patient health and function were
observed with vutrisiran compared to placebo. vutrisiran is currently under review by the
U.S. FDA with a PDUFA date of April 14, 2022. It is also expected to be approved in the
EU in the fourth quarter of this year.
Mavacamten (Bristol-Myers Squibb)
Mavacamten is a potential "first-in-class" cardiovascular drug acquired by Bristol-Myers
Squibb through its acquisition of MyoKardia, which inhibits cardiomyosin for the treatment
of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM). Bristol-Myers Squibb has filed a
marketing application with the U.S. FDA for this therapy, with an updated PDUFA date of
April 28, 2022.
Cilta-cel ( Johnson & Johnson/ Legendary
Biologics )

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Carvykti (cilta-cel), jointly developed by Janssen and Legendary Biologics, is a CAR-T
therapy targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA). Data presented last year at the 63rd
Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) showed that cilta-cel
demonstrated durable anticancer activity in the treatment of patients with
relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who had been treated with multiple prior therapies.
At a median follow-up time of 22 months, 83% of patients achieved strict complete
remission. Cilta-cel has been granted priority review by the U.S. FDA with a PDUFA date
of February 28, 2022. The EU is likewise expected to approve this therapy in the first
quarter of this year.
Adagrasib (Mirati Therapeutics)
Adagrasib, a highly specific and potent oral KRAS G12C inhibitor, has been granted
Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of patients with
treated non-small cell lung cancer harboring KRAS G12C mutations.
In phase 2 clinical trials, this therapy achieved an objective remission rate (ORR) of 43%,
and a disease control rate (DCR) of 80%. Notably, 98.3% of patients treated with
adagrasib had already received immunotherapy and chemotherapy, so it is a new hope
for these patient groups. Earlier this year, Mirati plans to release more detailed data, and
Evaluate reports that the company may use the accelerated approval pathway.
References:
[1] Evaluate Vantage 2022 Preview, Retrieved January 2, 2022, from
https://www.evaluate.com/thought-leadership/vantage/evaluate-vantage-2022-preview-re
port