According to GlobalData analysis, currently marketed and pipeline cell therapy assets in oncology will generate sales of around $25bn by 2031.

Sharing the findings during a session at this year’s Clinical Trials in Oncology (CTO) East Coast 2025 conference, which took place on 8-9 July in Boston, Tatiana Kolesnikova, director of oncology and haematology at GlobalData, said the market is currently growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.5%.

“About 70% of this growth is provided by currently marketed products, and about 30% would be generated by assets that are currently in the pipeline,” Kolesnikova noted.

She went on to highlight that genetically modified cell therapies (GMCTs), which mostly refer to CAR T-cell therapies, have been particularly successful in blood cancers such as multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

A dominant proportion of GMCTs are being developed by Chinese companies, with hundreds of trials underway.

“There are twice as many clinical trials exploring GMCTs in China, at around 720, versus 370 in North America, mostly in the US. The differential is even larger in Europe, almost seven times more trials underway in China than the 112 in Europe,” Kolesnikova said.

While success in these indications is putting value on label expansions in earlier lines of therapies, Kolesnikova noted that there are various disadvantages to CAR T therapies. These include long production and the high expense of developing the necessary specialised treatment centres for administration.

Kolesnikova said: “Efforts are underway to overcome these challenges by modifying production and using alternative approaches.

“In terms of geography, our analysis indicates that there is significant R&D development of CAR T-cells in China and approval of these agents in other markets would present a potentially significant challenge to established therapies in the broader cell therapy space.”

GMCTs aside, GlobalData research indicates that the US continues to dominate the broader oncology cell therapy market, accounting for more than 60% of sales.

Kolesnikova said: “China is the fastest growing market, with a CAGR of 60% compared to the 24.5% for the market overall, with China anticipated to be the second largest market by 2031, accounting for 9% of total cell therapy sales.”