There are two different approaches to Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery, making drug crystals smaller to increase solubility and bioavailability, or using some form of carrier to deliver them in a more effective manner.
If we look at the total market size in 2021, it is a 60/40 split in favour of drug nano crystals although we feel that developing new delivery mechanisms may allow more value to be created.
The best performing nano carriers are shaping up to be:
- Liposomes (28%);
- Gold Nanocarriers (17%);
- Dendrimers (17%);
- Micelles (11%);
- Polymer-based Nanocarriers (5%);
- Nanoshells (2%);
- Ceramic Nanocarriers (<1%);
- Calcium phosphate Nanocarriers (<1%).
Cientifica Ltd published Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery 2011 on 2 November 2011. Here’s a few of the key findings.
MARKET ANALYSIS BY KEY TECHNOLOGY
Of All Key Technologies Studied…
An analysis of the Total Addressable Market (TAM) in 2010, for nanotechnology in drug delivery (NDD), all key technologies studied shows the following values in 2010 (by descending order):
- Drug Nanocrystals (596 US$ Million Dollars), (45%);
- Total Nanocarriers (434 US$ Million Dollars), (32%);
- Targeted Delivery (178 US$ Million Dollars), (13%);
- Solubility + Bioavailability (139 US$ Million Dollars), (10%).
Nanocarriers as a Whole…
An analysis of the TAM in 2010, for NDD, nanocarriers as a whole shows the top 5 nanocarriers TAM values in 2010 as follows (by descending order):
- Liposomes (118 US$ Million Dollars), (28%);
- Dendrimers (84 US$ Million Dollars), (19%);
- Micelles (63 US$ Million Dollars), (15%);
- Gold Nanocarriers (56 US$ Million Dollars), (13%);
- CNTs (56 US$ Million Dollars), (13%).
Nanocarriers Versus Drug Nanocrystals…
Regarding total nanocarriers versus drug nanocrystals, drug nanocrystals show a higher TAM value in 2010, when compared with total nanocarriers:
- Drug Nanocrystals (596 US$ Million Dollars), (58%);
- Total Nanocarriers (434 US$ Million Dollars), (42%).
So, how advanced is NDD now? Which trends are being designed to 2021? Where will be opportunities for investment? Reading Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery 2011 will answer to these questions and many more and explain why?
Not to be outdone by the Chinese, the Russians have revealed that nanotechnology is a military objective. Apparently “devices less than one millimetre can be used to form a cloud of any size and power of destruction” and “can “intelligently” destroy mobile targets, including combat tanks.”
Whatever they are talking about, Vice President Ivanov has declared that “this field of science can radically change the character of war and added that the works of Russian Military Complex will be completely financed.”
One of the banes of nanotechnology has been the number of companies claiming that things are nano when they are clearly not, for instance the infamous sickness inducing Magic Nano from early last year.
Help is at hand from the Rusian Nanotechnology Corporation who have pledged to “implement a system of standards to weed out swindlers who use the term ‘nano’ in the names of their companies and products just to get the attention.” As a result according to the Moscow Times, “State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said … that the parliament would adopt laws setting technical regulations determining which companies would be entitled to use the term in their name or those of their products.”
The Times then proceeded to dig up a number of Russian companies making everything from concrete to breast implants while claiming to be using nanotechnology.In contrast to Europe, the Russian view of nanotech seems to be that “It is sexy, it attracts investment and generates profits.” Perhaps this is related to the ever increasing number of breast related nanotech applications (or maybe it’s just a result of spending too much time in the lab).
The breast implant team are quoted as saying
“We can prove that this breast is really nano. What we need is about 5 million rubles ($180,000) to begin production on an industrial scale.”
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