The drug delivery market
The drug delivery market is one of the fastest growing markets within the pharmaceutical
industry. Sales of drug delivery products were forecast to double over a period of five
years to the end of 20051. The value of the global drug delivery market in 2000 (total
sales of pharmaceutical products that incorporate drug delivery technologies) was
estimated to be between $35 billion and $50 billion a year. By the end of 2005, predictions
for sales of drug delivery products vary from $70 billion to in excess of $100 billion2,3.
The transdermal drug delivery market
Transdermal drug delivery generated major interest among large pharmaceutical
companies in the 1980s and 1990s. The potential advantages of avoidance of first-pass
metabolism, avoidance of exposure to the chemical and biological conditions of the
gastrointestinal tract, reduction or avoidance of adverse events, improved patient
compliance, and the ability to provide controlled delivery of drugs with short half-lives
and/or narrow therapeutic windows were all attractive features.
A number of transdermal products were developed but certain factors also arose which
limited the success of transdermal technologies. These included: local skin irritation,
limitations on the dose of drug that could be delivered, a lag time associated with delivery
of the drug across the skin (resulting in a delay in onset of action), and variation of
absorption rates based on the site of application, skin type and patient age. These
limitations, in addition to the rise of other non-oral drug delivery systems, such as
pulmonary and nasal delivery systems, caused interest in transdermal technology to
decline somewhat.
However, with the development of new technologies to improve transdermal drug delivery,
the market is now forecast to grow rapidly. In 2000, the value of the worldwide transdermal
drug delivery market was estimated at between $5.3bn4 and $6.7bn5 and it is expected
to be between $11.9bn6 and $12.7bn7 in 2005. This is expected to increase to $21.5
billion by 2010 and $31.5 billion in 20158.
Specific Drug Markets
Along with NTT’s potential to play a major role in the dermal and transdermal drug
delivery market, the company is currently planning to enter the erectile dysfunction
market.
It was estimated that the number of men with ED worldwide in 1995 stood at 152
million. Projections indicate that this number could reach 322 million by 2025, primarily
driven by the ageing population, the increasing incidence of risk factors such as diabetes,
smoking, obesity and cardiovascular disease, and the increasing incidence of ED as a
side-effect of pharmacological agents for other conditions9.
Currently only around 30% of affected men actually seek treatment for ED and even
fewer receive it. In 2004, analysts estimated that only 13% of the market was being
treated10. This situation is expected to improve with increasing awareness of ED and the
availability of more convenient treatments.
1- Drug Delivery Technologies, Scrip Report, 2001 2- Drug Delivery Technologies, Scrip Report, 2001 3- Jain, K Drug Delivery Technologies and Markets Informa Pharmaceuticals/Jain PharmaBiotech, 2000 4- Drug Delivery Technologies, Scrip Report, 2001 5- Jain, K Drug Delivery Technologies and Markets Informa Pharmaceuticals/Jain PharmaBiotech, 2000 6- Drug Delivery Technologies, Scrip Report, 2001 7- Jain, K Drug Delivery Technologies and Markets Informa Pharmaceuticals/Jain PharmaBiotech, 2000 8- Transdermal Drug Delivery - Technologies, Markets, and Companies, Jain PharmaBiotech, May 2005 9- Strategic Perspectives: Male Sexual Dysfunction, Datamonitor, 2002 10- At www.medicinenet.com/pdf/hr0503erectiledysfunction.pdf (accessed May 2005)
