They survey, conducted by Greystone Associates, found that developers of oral formulations are increasingly seeking new methods and technologies for delivering these new APIs in ways that achieve optimal pharmaceutical kinetics while insuring therapeutic bioavailability.

The convergence of automated screening tools and genomic/proteomic knowledge bases is expected to result in an acceleration in the identification of new chemical entities over the next few years.

"Many of these NCEs will be protein- and peptide-based macromolecules," said George Perros, managing director of Greystone Associates. These compounds, because of their large size, will present challenges to oral drug formulations attempting to get them through the upper gastrointestinal tract without being broken down.

Another factor influencing the trend to engineered oral dosage forms is the desire for better patient compliance through less-frequent dosing.

"To meet the needs of patients, particularly aging patient populations, developers and formulators are emphasising the creation of oral formulations engineered for once-daily administration," continued Perros.

Greystone has identified more than two-dozen companies that are now promoting a broad range of engineered oral delivery technologies. These companies are working with drug developers at pharmaceutical companies around the world to help define the prescription formulations that will enter preclinical development and the clinical trial pipeline in the coming months and years.

The survey's findings are contained in the report - entitled Frontiers in Oral Drug Delivery: Players, Products, and Prospects, which is available from the publisher .