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.
IL-13 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 IL-13 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.
IL-13 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).
IL-13 Clinical Trials 73 trials
Phase 1-4 trials started in 2008 or later that test an FDA-approved drug acting on IL-13. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov. How we count
Completion by Phase
| Phase | Total | Completed | Stopped | Active | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 100% |
| Phase 2 | 21 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 90% |
| Phase 3 | 38 | 29 | 3 | 6 | 91% |
| Phase 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 50% |
Top Sponsors
By Modality
IL-13 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
- • Sponsors: 15 (7 companies)
- • Completion rates by condition
Full summary • All drugs • Genetic evidence • Trials • Timeline
How We Count Trials
- Trials: phase 1-4 interventional trials on ClinicalTrials.gov that started in 2008 or later and test an FDA-approved drug acting on IL-13. A trial counts if an approved drug acting on IL-13 is in any arm, including as a comparator, and a trial that tests two such drugs counts once. Trials that test only unapproved drugs are not counted. A trial listed as phase 1/2 counts as phase 1, and phase 2/3 as phase 2.
- Active: recruiting, not yet recruiting, enrolling by invitation, or active and no longer recruiting.
- Completion rate: of the trials that have ended, the share marked Completed rather than Terminated or Withdrawn. Completed means the trial ended as planned; it does not mean the drug worked. Suspended trials are not counted as ended.
- Stopped: terminated or withdrawn. Trials stop for many reasons, including slow enrolment and business decisions, not only safety or efficacy.
- Sponsors: the lead sponsor of each trial. Companies are the sponsors ClinicalTrials.gov classes as industry; the rest are universities, hospitals, cooperative groups, government bodies and individuals.