The active and diverse treatment pipeline for asthma boasts a striking level of innovation, with many first-in-class products representing significant investment opportunities, says business intelligence provider GBI Research.

The company's latest report states that while asthma therapy development is dominated by small molecule compounds, with 156 products representing 67 percentage of the pipeline, the R&D landscape has moved towards biologics on an unprecedented scale.

There are now 60 biologics in the pipeline, representing a 26 percent share.

Mr Yasser Mushtaq, senior analyst, GBI Research, says: There is a high degree of innovation across the entire asthma therapeutics pipeline. This includes phase III, consisting of multiple first-in-class drugs, many of which are biologics.

"This active development is reflected in the current asthma deals landscape. Between 2006 and 2015, 65 deals associated with asthma treatment have been completed. Of these, 42 involved a product or products with a disclosed molecular target, 14 of which were first-in-class."

Mr Mushtaq continues: "Investment in biologics, which would have been considered very risky just over a decade ago, has made a remarkable clinical and commercial impact across various indications, with biologics representing seven of the top 10 best-selling products in 2013.

"With diversification in the current asthma treatment pipeline set to offer alternative therapeutic options to specific patients, investors can take advantage of the high-risk, high-reward opportunities available to gain a potential new portfolio addition," he concludes.