New-age technology drives targeted drug delivery

The drug delivery space presents numerous opportunities for technology advancements, most importantly in the area of scalability. Once drug delivery products start incorporating upscale technologies, manufacturers will naturally focus on application diversity and seek opportunities to license out their technologies to various industries such as medicine, animal health and cosmetics.

Analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Advanced Mechanisms in Drug Delivery, finds hydrogels, phospholipids, microspheres, cyclodextrins and nanotechnology based formulations are emerging drug delivery mechanisms that will displace established technologies such as polymeric micelles, niosomes, phosphorous acids and starch-based structures. Not only are these new-age drug delivery mechanisms biodegradable and non-toxic, they also enhance the bioavailability of drugs, promote solubility in various environments and ensure targeted delivery.

‘The targeted drug delivery mechanism successfully challenges traditional drug delivery technologies that have to pass through the gastrointestinal tract to reach the disease site,’ said TechVision Research Analyst Karan Verma. ‘Besides their precision, the emerging targeted drug delivery technologies are noted for their high lipophilicity, which enhances the entrapment efficiency of drugs.’

Although companies can succeed in bringing healthcare providers on board with the practice of targeted drug delivery, they will find it more challenging to convince end users to abandon their trusted traditional solutions.

‘As things stand, the North American market accounts for the majority of innovations in the global drug delivery industry. Unsurprisingly, the majority of drug delivery technology manufacturers are based in the US, closely followed by Europe,’ noted Verma. ‘However, as Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market in terms of the demand for oral drugs for infectious diseases, it too is an important region for the drug delivery technology industry.’

Moreover, these new drug delivery technologies will allow industry players to create a streamlined financial path. For manufacturers across geographies, partnerships and alliances will be essential to sustaining costs associated with R&D and the commercialisation of products currently under regulatory review. Venture capital funding, angel investors and series funding also represent possible sources of financial support for product development.