Novel Drug Delivery Systems

Types of Drug Delivery System

• Conventional/Traditional Drug Delivery Method
• Novel Drug Delivery System(NDDS)

The traditional mode of drug delivery incorporates non-invasive peroral routes i.e. through the mouth, the topical route- through the skin, the transmucosal route-through the nose, eye, vagina, or rectum, and inhalation routes.

Problems Associated with Conventional Drug Delivery Method

• Side effects of the drugs can be minor to major, sometimes even toxic
• Necessitates regular administration of the drug
• Requires the administration of a particular dose at a prescribed frequency
• Regular drug usage can reduce its overall efficacy over time
• If the drug dose is missed, it can degrade the patient’s compliance.

Novel Drug Delivery System (NDDS) - Call of Modern Medicine and Treatment

The limitations of traditional drug delivery systems can be encountered with a novel drug delivery system which is a modern approach to drug delivery. A novel drug delivery system cures a particular disease by targeting exactly the affected zone inside a patient's body and transporting the drug to that area. Pharmaceutical scientists have shifted their focus on designing different drug delivery systems for medicines using a scientific approach by delivering the components to the target area in a novel manner. It not only provides better efficacy and increases patient compliance, by avoiding repeated administration but also helps to reduce toxicity and hence increases the therapeutic value of the drug. As a result, NDDS enhances the bioavailability of the drug and helps it in capturing as well as to remaining in the market.

Current and Future Market Outlook of Novel Drug Delivery Systems:

The novel drug delivery market size has been valued at approximately USD 11 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach USD 40 billion by 2035 growing at a robust CAGR of 21% during the forecast period, i.e., 2023-2035.

Some of the trends positively impacting the market growth are-

• The increasing burden of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular, renal disease, asthma, cancer, and others.
• The surge in global cancer numbers, the most common being blood cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectum cancer, bladder cancer, and skin cancer.
• Increasing drug discovery and research that have made significant advances in the field of medical science.
• The growing demand for effective and advanced therapeutics with lower side effects and higher efficacy.
• The increasing awareness regarding the disadvantages of conventional drug delivery.
• Strategic initiatives and collaborations by market players in the form of mergers, collaborations, and acquisitions are also boosting the market.
• The growing geriatric population worldwide needs to manage several health problems simultaneously and requires a controlled-release drug delivery technology.

Some of the trends negatively impacting the market growth are-

• The difficulty of conducting clinical research in novel drug delivery
• Stringent regulatory guidelines
• Novel drug delivery systems can have stability issues
• There have been instances of product recalls.

Latest Developments in the Novel Drug Delivery Systems Market –

• Mylan N.V. and Pfizer Inc. have named the new company to be formed by the planned combination of Mylan and Upjohn, a division of Pfizer, as Viatris. Viatris will combine Upjohn's strong position in China and emerging markets with Mylan's significant presence in the U.S. and Europe, and will facilitate a strong geographic reach for the company and its product portfolio.
• Novartis has acquired Kedalion Therapeutics and its AcuStream technology, which is a novel device innovated to facilitate precise dosing and accurate delivery of certain topical ophthalmic medications to the eye and support the delivery of front-of-eye therapies and help patient comfort during therapy administration. The acquisition will strengthen Novartis’s ophthalmics portfolio, and its efforts to investigate transformative ophthalmic methods to address unmet patient needs in front-of-eye conditions.
• Virpax Pharmaceuticals Inc. has developed Envelta a non-opioid pain product for acute and chronic pain including non-cancer pain. It has been formulated as an intranasal spray of enkephalin nanoparticles that uses Molecular Envelope Technology (MET) as its delivery system to cross the blood-brain barrier via the olfactory route while bypassing the liver. The company has engaged New England Investors, LLC to serve as the out-licensing advisor for Envelta in the People’s Republic of China.

Conclusion

The novel drug delivery system is the new face of drug administration which has a lot of potential for growth and development. This growth and development when integrated with research and innovation can reach new heights of profitability. But there are many challenges with novel drug delivery that need to be addressed like the difficulty of conducting clinical research, development of simple bioassays for biological standardization, toxicological evaluation methods’ development, investigation of their sites of absorption, and safety evaluation, legal and regulatory aspects of drugs, etc. With the overcoming of these hurdles, the potential of the market can be reached fruitfully.