Treating the Growing Pains of Transdermal Drug Delivery
Transdermal Delivery Companies Switch Focus to Pain Management, CNS Disorders for Growth
Amherst, NH - (March 23, 2006) – For more than a decade, transdermal drug delivery has been touted as being on the verge of explosive growth. But issues with consistency, topical side effects and bioavailability have slowed progress, and today the full potential of this technology is yet to be fulfilled. Developers of transdermal drug delivery systems have existed on a handful of proven applications such as hormone replacement, hypertension and, more recently, contraception. But companies in this sector have long realized that sustainable growth will require expanding transdermal technology into new therapeutic areas.
While a handful of mostly smaller companies are taking a homerun approach, investigating blockbuster applications such as transdermal insulin delivery, the ability to deliver large molecule drugs including proteins and peptides transdermally is now seen by many as a long-term strategy at best. To achieve growth in the near-term, several transdermal system developers are focusing on small molecule therapeutics for a short but attractive list of therapies.
“We’re seeing transdermal systems in late stage clinical development for a new set of diseases and conditions such as osteoarthritis, migraine, Alzheimer’s, depression and Parkinson’s disease that are expanding the reach of this technology,” explains George Perros, Greystone Associates Managing Director. Several of the promising new transdermal delivery applications are being led by next-generation transdermal technologies, such as iontophoresis and microporation, that incorporate sound or electrical energy or - in the case of microporation - microneedles, lasers or RF, to improve drug flux across the outer skin layer. “Extending the reach of transdermal delivery technologies into the realm of large-molecule biologics will require further improvements in the reliability, consistency, and packaging of these so-called active transdermal drug delivery systems,” adds Perros.
More information is available at www.greystoneassociates.org .
About Greystone
Greystone Associates is a medical and healthcare technology consulting firm providing services in strategic planning, venture development, product commercialization, and technology and market assessment.
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Mark Smith
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www.greystoneassociates.org Source: Greystone Associates
