The market for hematological cancers, which covers leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, is expected to more than double from $30.7 billion in 2015 to $70.1 billion by 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate of 12.5%, according to business intelligence provider GBI Research.

The company's latest report states that this strong growth will occur in spite of a number of key patent expirations for drugs including Rituxan, Gleevec and Velcade, as new drugs hit the market and the prevalence of hematological cancers increases.

Mr Yasser Mushtaq, Senior Analyst for GBI Research, says: "The significant revenue lost by targeted drugs such as Gleevec and Velcade will be counteracted by recently approved drugs and pipeline products. Keytruda (pembrolizumab), for example, which is already marketed for metastatic melanoma, is in Phase III development for multiple myeloma and refractory multiple myeloma. It is also in Phase II development for a number of lymphomas and will therefore contribute to market revenue over coming years.

"A number of drugs currently not marketed will also develop into blockbuster drugs, including selinexor, venetoclax, KTEC-19, and polatuzumab vedotin. Venetoclax in particular is expected to be very lucrative, hitting sales of $3.5 billion in 2022, up from an estimated $155.2 million in 2016. It is a selective, orally administered, first-in-class small molecule therapy in development by AbbVie and Roche, and is indicative of a trend in the market towards expensive targeted therapies, including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs)."

As the use of targeted therapies continues to generate revenue above that of non-specific chemotherapy classes of treatment, key companies investing in the hematological cancers pipeline and targeted therapies will drive the market substantially, according to GBI Research.

Mr Mushtaq continues: "The major market players, including Celgene, Roche, AbbVie, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson, are expected to maintain their strong positions. Of these companies, AbbVie will display the strongest growth, driven by its acquisition of Pharmacyclics, which was already a strong performer in this disease cluster."