Abstract
This report:
- Describes various medical applications for nanomaterials including
diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and medical imaging
- Determines the current market status for naomaterials and nanodevices used
in medical applications, and makes forecasts over a five-year period from 2008
to
- Includes a thorough patent analysis
- Discusses developments that could affect the long-term market for
nanomaterials and nanodevices in medical applications including environmental
and safety issues.
INTRODUCTION
Hardly a month seems to go by without the announcement of new nanotechnology
developments for medical applications. These developments have the potential
to save many lives and improve the quality of life for countless others living
with various medical ailments.
Study Background
Nanomaterials and other nanotechnologies have already found a variety of
commercial and research applications in medicine, including drug therapies,
drug delivery systems, wound care products, diagnostic tests, and medical
imaging agents. The prospects for future growth in nanomedical applications
are striking.
One recent study found that there were 130 nano-based drugs and delivery
systems, as well as 125 medical devices incorporating nanotechnology in
preclinical, clinical, or commercial development.[1] The number of new
nanomedical applications in the pipeline is so great that it is straining the
capacity of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other national
agencies that evaluate the effectiveness and safety of such innovations.[2]
The number of products approaching the FDA approval and review process is
likely to grow as new nanotechnology medical applications are developed.
In addition to smart drugs that are more effective and cause fewer side
effects than existing drug therapies, nanotechnology is expected to facilitate
novel approaches to disease diagnosis and prevention. Other nanomedical
applications that are under development may help to improve the lives of
people with severe injuries or medical conditions, ranging from better
implants and prosthetics to brain-machine interfaces that can improve sensory,
motoric, and other functions.
In the even longer term, nanotechnology may be used to construct molecular
systems that are strikingly similar to living systems. These molecular
structures could be the basis for the regeneration or replacement of body
parts that are currently lost to infections, accidents, or diseases.
Study Goals and Objectives
The possibilities of nanomedicine are seemingly almost endless, although
intuition alone tells us that not all of these possibilities are likely to
become medical realities. The goal of this report is to survey nanotechnology
applications in the health care field, identify the applications that appear
to have significant potential in the next 5 to 10 years, and develop
quantitative estimates of their future sales.
The report' s approach is similar to that of the BCC report entitled
Nanotechnology: A Realistic Market Assessment (NAN031C) in that it generally
avoids futuristic speculation about nanotechnology applications that might be
possible in the long term. Instead, the report focuses on applications that
BCC expects to make it to market by 2018.
The report' s specific objectives support this broad goal. These objectives
include identifying nanotechnology applications in health care that have the
greatest commercial potential in the 2008 to 2018 time frame, identifying
market drivers and evaluating obstacles to their successful commercialization,
and projecting future sales of each application.
Intended Audience
This report is intended especially for nanotechnology marketing executives,
entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, and other readers with a need
to know where the nanotechnology market in the medical field is headed over
the next 5 to 10 years. Other readers who should find the report
particularly valuable include government officials associated with the U.S.
National Nanotechnology Initiative and other state-level programs to promote
the development of the nanotechnology industry. The report' s findings and
conclusions should also be of interest to the broader health and
nanotechnology communities.
Scope Of Report
The report addresses the global market for emerging nanotechnology
applications in the medical field, including:
- Basic medical research
- Diagnostics
- Pharmaceuticals
- Medical devices
- Medical imaging
Nanotechnology applications are generally defined as the creation and
utilization of synthetic materials, devices, and systems through the
manipulation of matter at scales of less than 100 nanometers. Based on this
definition, the report covers nanomaterials (e.g., nanoparticles, nanotubes,
nanostructured materials, nanocomposites), nanotools (e.g., scanning probe
microscopes), and nanodevices (e.g., nanosensors).
The study format includes these major elements:
- Executive summary
- Definitions
- Emerging and developmental nanotechnology applications for the medical
field that have the greatest commercial potential through
- Detailed market estimates and projections for each application during the
period from 2007 to
- General assessment of expected market trends in the longer term (i.e.,
2014 to 2018)
- Analysis of industry structure and company profiles
- Patent analysis
Information Sources and Methodology
Projecting the market for emerging technologies, whose commercial potential
has not yet been proven is a challenging task. This is certainly true in the
nanotechnology field, which may help to explain why many analysts choose to
focus on supply-side nanotechnology assessments. However, BCC' s objective in
this report is to provide not just a technology assessment, but also a
realistic commercial assessment of the health care-related market for
nanotechnology applications. To accomplish this objective, BCC used a
multiphase approach to identify the nanotechnology applications with the
greatest commercial potential and quantify the market for these applications.
In the first phase of the analysis, BCC identified a long list of potential
nanotechnology applications in health care, including applications that are
still under development. In the second phase, through a literature review and
interviews with industry sources, BCC eliminated those nanotechnology
applications that appear to have little likelihood of making it into
commercial production in the next 5 to 10 years. The result of phase two was a
short list of nanomedical applications with the commercial potential over the
time period covered by this report.
The third phase focused on quantifying the potential market for each
short-listed nanotechnology application and identifying the main prerequisites
for commercial success. Various methodologies and data sources were used to
develop the projections, including trend-line projections, input-output
analysis, and estimates of future demand from industry sources.
Phase Three was composed of two phases: 1) development of near to midterm
(2008 to 2013) projections, and 2) development of longer-term (2014 to 2018)
projections. As previously mentioned, the development of such long-term
projections is a departure from the usual BCC report format. This is
necessitated by the long-time frame for commercialization of many of the
technologies analyzed in this report. Obviously, the projections for the
out-years beyond 2014 are more tentative than the projections for 2008 to 2013.
The specific assumptions and approach used by BCC to develop the
projections-both near/mid-term and long term-for each application are
documented in detail under the various segments addressed. This lets readers
see how the market estimates were developed, and if they so desire, they can
test the impact on the final numbers of changing assumptions regarding such
matters as the date of regulatory approval.
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