The ballooning incidence of chronic diseases is turning out to be a healthcare burden that is affecting both low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and high-income nations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), these diseases were responsible for the deaths of as many as 9.6 million people in 2018. In addition to this, the organization found that the LMIC witness nearly 70% of the total deaths caused due to cancer.

Many drugs produced by the immunotherapy industry players for the management and treatment of various chronic diseases are currently undergoing clinical trials. This is a major reason why the rising usage of immunotherapy drugs for combating the growing incidence of chronic diseases is a crucial factor fueling the sales of these medicines. Additionally, the rising requirement for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), the increasing adoption of target therapies, and the growing popularity of biosimilars are propelling the global sales of immunotherapy drugs. 

Between these two, the usage of the checkpoint inhibitors was found to be higher in the past years. The sales of these drugs are predicted to be significantly high in the upcoming years as well. This would be because of the rapid development of monoclonal antibodies and the rising usage of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies across the world. Therapeutic and preventive are the most commonly used types of vaccines throughout the world. 

Between these, the usage of preventive vaccines was found to be higher in the past few years. Out of the several vaccine brands available, Prevnar/Prevenar 13 is currently one of the most widely used vaccines and generated $5.6 billion revenue in the industry in 2017. Immunotherapy drugs are extensively used for the treatment of infectious diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, and cancer. Out of these, the utilization of these drugs was the highest for cancer treatment in 2017. 

Geographically, the sales of immunotherapy drugs were the highest in North America in the past years. This was because of the high per capita healthcare expenditure, the presence of a large geriatric population and several industry players, and the high incidence of chronic diseases in the region. Furthermore, the large-scale development of several research laboratories also contributed toward the high sales of these drugs in the region in the past.

Moreover, the huge investments, both indirect and direct, in research and development (R&D) projects by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies fueled the sales of these drugs in the region. The immunotherapy drugs market is predicted to exhibit the fastest growth in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in the forthcoming years. This would be because of the surging healthcare expenditure in the improvement of healthcare facilities and infrastructure and the soaring research and development (R&D) activities being performed in the regional countries.

Hence, due to the growing incidence of chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular ailments, the sales of immunotherapy drugs would shoot-up all over the world in the upcoming years.