Drug delivery market to reach $251bn by 2019
According to the study, from The Freedonia Group, this growth will be led by specialized dosage formulations as well as devices that are safer and easier to use.
Oral
Of the market total, the demand for oral drug delivery products is expected to be more than $130bn in 2019.
Controlled-release formulations will account for the majority of the revenue in the oral drug delivery market due in part to bioavailability and reducing dosing advantages. However, patent expirations and generic competition could stifle potential growth.
Parenteral
Enhanced bioavailability will also bolster polymer-enhanced medicines, in addition to reduced toxicity advantages. These advances will lead to 10% annual increase in the demand for parenteral drug delivery products through 2019, when the market is expected to reach $86.5bn. Advances in monoclonal antibodies will also support this growth.
"The use of new and existing therapies based on human and humanized monoclonal antibodies will improve the effectiveness of therapies against various forms of cancer as well as against other debilitating disorders, such as allergy-linked asthma, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, and wet age-related macular degeneration," said analyst Bill Martineau.
Long term, the most growth – and the fastest – will be seen from prefillable syringes.
According to the report, “Improvements in safety features such as retracting needles, along with overall infection prevention and response time advantages, will underlie growth.”
Other
Demand for “other” drug delivery products is expected to pass $34bn in 2019 with three-quarters of the revenue coming from dry power and metered dose inhalers.
None the less, according to the report, “growth prospects for inhalers will weaken gradually as patent expirations make several widely used respiratory therapies – such as ADVAIR, SPIRIVA and SYMBICORT – available to low cost generic competition.”
Among implantable drug delivery products, contraceptive inserts will see the greatest increase in revenue.
