Although increasing numbers of drugmakers talk about boosting their biological pipelines, the more-traditional small molecule approach is still leading the way in terms of numbers of drugs entering first-in-man clinical trials, according to DrugResearcher.com, which has been compiling a list of Phase I trials.

Given that companies tend to announce this type of clinical trial at different stages, the site writes some molecules wound up on its list because the FDA accepted an Investigational New Drug application or perhaps through starting or completing enrollment. Unfortunately, many companies - particularly big drugmakers - often don’t announce trials at all and so DrugResearcher concedes its list can’t claim to be complete.

Nonetheless, here’s what DrugResearcher concludes: there are more than twice as many small molecules entering the clinic as biologics. Of the biologics, the biggest group is antibodies, at 29. In other words, biologics may be growing, but these meds still have a ways to go before usurping small molecule drug development as the developer’s technique of choice.

Most popular types of drug entering the clinic:

Small molecules - 135
Biologic /Biopharma - 61
Vaccines - 23
Peptides, Antisense and siRNA - 18
Undisclosed - 15

The top indications were oncology with 88; anti-infectives and vaccines at 44, central nervous system at 41 and cardiovascular at 26. And the most productive company, not including a big pharma, was Exelixis, with compounds heading into the clinic. Others the site mentions are Medarex, Array BioPharma, Pharmacopeia, Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Genmab and NeuroSearch.

Hat tip to DrugResearcher