Immunology School | Ep. 710

A Deep Dive into the Future of Autoimmune Drug Development

Hello Avatar! Welcome back for another week of biotech analysis. Today is Sunday, which means this is our Building Biotech newsletter that is focused on discussing biopharma strategy topics. This week, we're diving into the shifting landscape of autoimmune drug development. From the rise of new cytokine targets like TL1A and IL-33, to the growing importance of modality and delivery format, the pipeline is becoming more strategic and more competitive. We’ll explore where innovation is headed, including emerging roles for B cell depletion and regulatory T cell therapies. Whether you're tracking pivotal trials or thinking about what comes after chronic immunosuppression, this issue will help frame where the field is going next.

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Enough shilling for the day, lots to cover this week, let's get started!

Introduction

Over the past twenty-five years, immunology has transformed from a therapeutic backwater into one of biotech’s most productive frontiers.

The autoimmune disease landscape, once dominated by broad-acting anti-TNF therapies, now stands at the edge of something more refined.

As precision medicine begins to take root in immunology, drug developers face a pivotal moment. They must decide whether to compete in well-trodden spaces with slight improvements or take on the challenge of building around new biological insights.

Today we unpack data from a recent April 2025 Nature Reviews Drug Discovery article, “Trends in the drug target landscape for autoimmune diseases,” and its accompanying supplementary figures. Together, they offer one of the most detailed and structured overviews of where autoimmune drug development is heading. With over 800 active assets included, the analysis provides both a snapshot of today’s most crowded therapeutic targets and a glimpse at the next wave of innovation quietly gaining momentum.

But raw numbers tell only part of the story. What matters more is how those numbers reveal the shifting psychology of biotech investment and R&D decision-making.

From the explosion of interest in type 2 inflammation to the resurgence of tolerance-inducing cytokines like IL-10, the autoimmune pipeline reflects a field in transition.

That transition is not just about science. It is about strategy, modality, competition, and timing.

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A New Class of Leaders: Why the Pipeline Is Moving Beyond TNF