Abstract
By 2018, over 30 new products will be launched resulting in a global market
for advanced targeted delivery products worth over US$8.5 billion.
Despite considerable advances in drug delivery technologies, there continues
to be a high unmet clinical need for safer and better-tolerated drugs.
Sub-optimal compliance and failure to persist with drug treatments are
important determinants of therapeutic non-response and are of significant cost
to healthcare providers. Advanced targeted drug delivery technologies will
help to overcome some of these issues by improving pharmacokinetics,
increasing tolerability and reducing dose-limiting off-target effects.
The need for targeted delivery platforms is increasing as patients and drug
regulators seek to meet these challenges.
Current and future applications
- Whilst the majority of targeted delivery systems under evaluation
incorporate passive carrier systems, there will be a shift towards the use of
actively targeted carriers to increase the therapeutic index of existing and
new products. There are significant opportunities for future commercial
developments within the pharmaceutical industry. These include:
- Cost-effective production of antibodies and antibody fragments for drug
targeting;
- Development of new polymers and biopolymers that may be utilised in the
safe and efficient targeted delivery of drugs and pro-drugs into host cells;
- Development and selective targeting of macromolecules to improve
intracellular uptake and tissue specificity;
- Development of inactive pro-drugs for tissue specific release;
- Extended product life-cycles through the development of targeted
formulations;
- Identification of new targeting ligands to improve the targeted delivery
of small molecules and macromolecules;
- Utilisation of multiple targeting ligands to address the needs of patient
sub-types;
Combined technology platforms to develop targeted therapeutics and diagnostics
in a single molecule.
A new generation of targeted delivery systems is under development to meet
these needs which should provide greater control over the selective targeting
of tissue, either with active moieties or inactive moieties which may be
activated within the tissue by biological (enzymes), chemical (pH) or physical
means (light, ultrasound) in order to release the active agent. The multitude
of delivery platforms will lend themselves to the delivery of both small
molecules and macromolecules and to a variety of target sites and delivery
routes.
This report is part of a major new 4-volume strategic analysis
Focusing on the sectors that are driving growth
- VOLUME I: CONTROLLED- RELEASE
- VOLUME II: NANOTECHNOLOGY
- VOLUME III: NUCLEIC ACID DELIVERY
- VOLUME IV: TARGETED DELIVERY
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