Drug delivery and nanotech

Nanotech products are being developed to improve delivery of drugs with poor solubility. It is estimated that 40-50% of newly developed drugs have solubility problems. Sales of drugs with poor solubility and low bioavailability totalled $72 billion in 2003, up from $64 billion in 2002. The total world market opportunity for nanotech-derived drug delivery products and services was estimated at $290 million in 2005 (0.6% of the total drug delivery market, valued at more than $43 billion). This is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 50% to reach $8.8 billion by 2015, or over 5% of the total drug delivery market.

Many nanotech research projects are devoted to improving drug delivery and targetting in cancer. The oppurtunity is considerable. The total cancer chemotherapy market in 2005 was estimated at $10 billion, including plain and DDS (drug delivery system) products. The DDS market share was 20% in 2000; this is forecast to grow to 80% by 2010. The cancer market itself will grow as the over-65 population in developed countries increase from 12% in 2000 to 20% in 2020.

From MMD's May 2006 report, Micro- and Nanomedicine.

Tags: nanotech, nanotechnology, drug delivery, medtech, cancer