US demand for drug delivery products to reach US$251bn

Demand for drug delivery products in the US is projected to increase 6.1% annually to reach US$251bn in 2019.

Specialised dosage formulations that improve therapies for autoimmune, cancer, cardiovascular, neurological, viral and other debilitating disorders will lead gains. Included in this group are human and humanised monoclonal antibodies, polymer-encapsulated medicines and brachytherapy seeds.

Among drug delivery devices, pen injectors and retractable prefillable syringes will record the fastest growth based on safety, infection prevention and ease-of-use advantages. These and other trends are presented in Drug Delivery Products, a new study from The Freedonia Group.

Demand for oral drug delivery products is forecast to rise 4.0% annually to more than $130bn in 2019. Because of bioavailability and reduced dosing advantages, controlled-release formulations will continue to dominate revenues. On the downside, patent expirations and generic competition will soften overall growth prospects for this product segment.

Demand for parenteral drug delivery products is projected to rise more than 10% annually to $86.5bn in 2019. Advances in monoclonal antibodies and polymer-encapsulated medicines will underlie growth. According to analyst Bill Martineau: ‘The use of new and existing therapies based on human and humanised monoclonal antibodies will improve the effectiveness of therapies against various forms of cancer, as well as against other debilitating disorders such as allergy linked asthma, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, and wet age-related macular degeneration.’

Enhanced bioavailability and reduced toxicity advantages will boost applications for polymer-enhanced medicines in the treatment of conditions such as cancer complications, hepatitis B and C, and multiple sclerosis. Prefillable syringes will account for the largest and fastest growth among parenteral devices in the long-term.

Improvements in safety features such as retracting needles, along with overall infection prevention and response time advantages, will underlie growth. Prefillable syringes will also broaden self-use applications based on advances in pen injectors.