IL-13 Inhibitors & Biosimilars
2 drugsAbout IL-13
Interleukin-13 (IL-13) is a cytokine involved in inflammatory pathways, exerting its effects by binding to cell surface receptors and triggering downstream signaling cascades.
Human genetic studies provide strong validation for IL-13 as a therapeutic target, with variants linked to asthma (score 0.90), atopic eczema (0.89), and psoriasis (0.88). Loss-of-function variants are protective, supporting inhibition-based therapies.
IL-13 is targeted by two FDA-approved drugs, ADBRY and EBGLYSS, across antibody and biologic modalities, both within the immunology therapeutic area.
Strategic Insights
ℹ️ How we calculate- White space opportunity in Healthy Volunteers with only 1 trials.
Human Genetic Evidence Strong
Genetic evidence strongly supports IL-13 as a target with a max score of 0.90 across 37 diseases.
Strong genetic support increases clinical success probability, making IL-13 inhibition a promising therapeutic strategy.
💡 Why inhibition?
- • Loss-of-function variants reduce disease risk (OR < 1)
- • 100% directional consistency across 2 traits
- • Strong signal in phenotype, respiratory or thoracic disease, integumentary system disease pathways
Cross-Disease Effects
Trade-off: LowDirection of Effect
100% alignedEvidence Across Diseases
20 totalGWAS and other genetic studies link IL13 to 37 diseases.
Inhibiting this target may be therapeutic
Inhibiting this target may be therapeutic
🔗 Colocalization Evidence 20 strong
max H4: 1.00eQTL/pQTL signals for IL13 colocalize with these GWAS traits, providing causal evidence that gene expression changes drive disease risk.
Understanding these scores
Association Score (0-1): Combines all evidence types (genetic, literature, drugs, animal models). Higher = more evidence linking target to disease. This is a ranking heuristic, not a confidence score.
L2G Score: Open Targets uses a machine learning model (Locus-to-Gene) to predict which gene is causal at each GWAS locus. L2G=0.5 means ~50% probability of being the causal gene. Only associations with L2G > 0.05 are included.
Odds Ratio (OR): From gene burden studies (UK Biobank, AstraZeneca PheWAS). Measures how loss-of-function variants affect disease risk. OR<1 = protective (inhibiting target may help), OR>1 = risk (losing function causes disease).
Beta (β): Effect size for continuous traits. β<0 = protective, β>0 = risk.
Clinical Translation (~1.8x): Based on Nelson et al. 2015: drug targets with genetic evidence have ~2x higher success rates in clinical trials. We estimate: Strong support (score ≥0.7) → ~1.8x, Moderate (0.3-0.7) → ~1.3x, Weak → baseline.
Colocalization (H4): Tests whether a GWAS signal and an eQTL/pQTL signal share the same causal variant. H4 is the posterior probability that both traits are associated AND share a causal variant. H4 > 0.8 = strong evidence that gene expression/protein levels drive disease risk. This links genetic variation → gene expression → disease, supporting the target-disease connection.
Top Drugs
LEO Pharma AS and Eli Lilly are the only two companies with approved IL-13 targeting drugs.
The limited number of players suggests a market with relatively high barriers to entry or untapped potential.
Drug Modality Landscape
Modalities
Routes of Administration
IL-13 is exclusively targeted by antibodies, suggesting it may be a cell-surface or secreted protein.
Consider exploring alternative modalities like small molecules to differentiate from existing antibody and biologic approaches.
📈 Modality Evolution
Antibodies pioneered IL-13 targeting (2021), with other biologics entering more recently (2024).
Clinical Trials 91 trials
Completion by Phase
| Phase | Total | Completed | Failed | Active | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 19 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 100% |
| Phase 2 | 26 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 92% |
| Phase 3 | 40 | 28 | 2 | 9 | 93% |
| Phase 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 50% |
Top Sponsors
By Modality
Drug Approval Timeline (2021 - 2024)
The first IL-13 targeting drug was approved in 2021, with the most recent approval in 2024.
The recent approval suggests continued interest and potential for further development in this target area.
Pro Intelligence Preview
Deep insights for drug target analysis
Competitive Landscape
- • 2 companies competing
- • Market share by company
Full Drug Portfolio
- • All 2 approved drugs
- • Approval dates & indications
Genetic Validation
- • Full genetic evidence table
- • Effect sizes & directions
Approval Timeline
- • Full 2-drug timeline
- • First-of-modality markers
Clinical Trials Analysis
- • Competition: High (15 sponsors)
- • White space: 10 underexplored indications
- • Success rates by condition
Full summary • All drugs • Genetic evidence • Trials • Timeline
How We Calculate These Metrics
Target Attractiveness Score
A 0-100 score based on trial activity, sponsor diversity, and completion rates. Calculated from 59 clinical trials targeting IL-13.
Completion rate: Percentage of trials that reached their planned endpoint. Trials terminated early, withdrawn, or suspended are not counted—these often indicate safety issues, lack of efficacy, or strategic pivots.
- Highly Attractive (80+): High trial activity, many sponsors, strong completion rates
- Attractive (60-79): Good trial activity and validation
- Moderate (40-59): Moderate interest from sponsors
- Low (under 40): Limited trial activity or validation concerns
Strategic Insights
Auto-generated insights based on trial analytics including competition intensity, white space opportunities, modality shifts, and failure patterns. We analyze trial sponsors, phases, indications, and outcomes.
Risk Signals
- High Competition: Many sponsors competing for this target (may reduce market opportunity)
- High Failure Risk: Low trial completion rates suggest development challenges
- Low Validation: Limited trial activity or poor outcomes indicate uncertain viability
- White Space Available: Underexplored indications present opportunities