Drug Delivery
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW – Bend Research: Problem-Solving in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Dr. Rod Ray, CEO and Chairman at Bend Research, discusses his company’s approach to difficult drug delivery challenges and the core technologies offered by his company.
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW – Evonik: Supporting Development & Commercial Cycles of Injectables
Dr. Jean-Luc Herbeaux, the Head of the Health Care Business Line of Evonik, discusses the rationale and success of his company’s latest acquisition.
SPECIAL FEATURE – Prefilled Syringes – A Container of Choice for Pharma
Contributor Cindy H. Dubin interviewed leading players in the prefilled syringe market to find out about their offerings and how they are addressing pharma’s needs for safety, ease of use, cost, and product differentiation.
EXCIPIENTS – Polymers for Solid Oral Dosage Forms
Robert Gwozdz, MPharm, presents an overview of polymers used in the more exotic and technically challenging dosage forms involving MR as well as those used for enhancing the dissolution and bioavailability of poorly soluble APIs.
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW – Ratio, Inc.: Making Self-Injection Simple, Safe & Affordable
Mr. Ben Moga, President of Ratio, Inc., talks about his company’s focus on self-injection in a homecare setting and how Ratio is pitting the patch injector against conventional autoinjectors in what is projected to be a $15.8 billion injectable drug delivery device market.
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW – 3M DDS: Helping Customers Compete & Innovate
James D. Ingebrand, VP & General manager of 3M DDS, discusses his priorities for the years ahead and recent developments in 3M’s technologies.
DRUG DEVELOPMENT – Design & Development of Atorvastatin Orally Disintegrating Tablets & Their Evaluation by Electronic Tongue
Rakesh Kumar Bhasin, MPharm, and Pradip Kumar Ghosh, PhD, design and develop a good taste-masked atorvastatin ODT that matched the in vitro release profile of Lipitor.
FORMULATION DEVELOPMENT – In Vitro Diffusion Studies in Transdermal Research: A Synthetic Membrane Model in Place of Human Skin
Vivek Joshi, PhD, David Brewster, and Peter Colonero present data on the applicability of a synthetic membrane (Strat-MTM) for in vitro transdermal diffusion studies in place of human or animal skin as a model.
DRUG DELIVERY – Lyoc (Lyophilized Wafer): An Orally Disintegrating Tablet Technology
Suniket Fulzele, PhD; Derek Moe, PhD; and Ehab Hamed, PhD; review the lyophilized wafer technology, specifically Lyoc, that offered the world’s first ODT, ODA Lyoc (sodium saccharinate and flamenol) in 1968.
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW – Unilife: Device Technologies to Enable Commercial Success
Unilife CEO, Alan Shortall discusses his company’s unique business model , transformational approach to the market, and his thoughts on how to move forward.
EXCLUSIVE ONLINE CONTENT

Biodexa Enters Agreements to Acquire Exclusive Worldwide License to a Phase 2 Ready Asset for Type 1 Diabetes
Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC recently announced it has entered into an agreement for the assignment of Adhera Therapeutics, Inc.’s rights to tolimidone (formerly coded MLR-1023) under an exclusive,….

Hovione Acquires ExtremoChem & Its Portfolio of Proprietary Sugars to Support Customers With Stabilization & Delivery of Biopharmaceuticals
Hovione, the specialist integrated CDMO and the leader in spray drying and particle engineering, has recently announced it has acquired ExtremoChem Lda (ExtremoChem), an innovative start-up company focused on….

New Issue of Cayman Currents: Lipid Nanoparticles
In Cayman Currents Issue 36, Cayman Chemical showcases the ongoing discoveries and innovation advancing lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to the forefront of modern medicine and highlights tools available to support LNP research.

Acumen Pharmaceuticals & Halozyme Enter Global Collaboration & License Agreement to Develop Subcutaneous Formulation of ACU193 With ENHANZE Technology
Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. recently announced a global non-exclusive collaboration and license agreement with Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. to provide Acumen access to Halozyme’s ENHANZE drug delivery technology, based on….

Cambrex Announces Sale of Drug Product Business Unit
Cambrex recently completed the sale of its Drug Product Business Unit to Wilmington, DE- based Noramco. Cambrex’s Drug Product business provides….
MARKET NEWS & TRENDS
WEBINARS

WEBINAR – 2024 Trends in Topical Drug Delivery: Insights & Innovation
This webinar will discuss some of the key trends from these leaders in the topical market on both a global and regional level, including the increased importance of sensory properties and the rise in non-conventional product formats, among others…..

WEBINAR – Nanoparticle Suspensions: History, Applications & CMC Aspects
This webinar describes the history, CMC aspects, and potential applications of nanoparticle suspensions (NSs). This drug delivery technology should be considered for crystalline, sparingly water-soluble APIs. The presentation highlights….

WEBINAR – Beyond the Lab: Unleashing the Potential of In Silico Modeling in Drug Product Formulation
In this webinar you will learn how digital chemistry tools facilitate rapid screening of formulation parameters, aiding in the identification of optimal drug delivery systems, excipient selection, and dosage forms….

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR – Solve Common Design Challenges in Inhalation Devices With Porous Polymers
The effectiveness of inhalation devices relies on their ability to deliver the pharmaceutical directly to the targeted part of the body with precision and calculated dosing. Since these devices….

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR – Exploring Pectin & the Advancement of Delayed Release Technology
In this webinar, experts will provide an overview of why the properties and structure of pectin are well suited for site-specific delivery to the colon. In addition, experts will also provide insights into how softgel capsules, formed by the combination of both pectin and gelatin, are used in OptiGel® DR, a new delayed release delivery technology for pharmaceutical applications.
WHITE PAPERS

WHITEPAPER – Copolymer Microstructures: Connecting Monomer Sequence Distribution With Biomedical End-Application Performance
To gain insights into advanced copolymer characterization techniques and their impact on drug release in biomedical products, we invite you to explore the latest Corbion white paper…..

WHITEPAPER – The Viscosity Reduction Platform: Viscosity-Reducing Excipients for Protein Formulation
This white paper evaluates the viscosity-reducing capacities of excipients and excipient combinations…..

WHITEPAPER – Accelerate Preclinical Developments & Improve Oral Bioavailability With Lipid-Based Formulation & Encapsulation Technology Combination
This paper covers the benefits of the LBF and capsules combination in dosage form developments, an efficient technology platform to bring efficient and differentiated products to the market.

WHITEPAPER – Effect of Excipient Choices on Topical Formulations & Manufacturing Processes
In this whitepaper, we review the effect of excipient choice on the process of manufacturing topical products. The effect of the following excipient types will be discussed: surface active agents, preservatives, polymer choice and….

WHITEPAPER – Addressing Regulatory Challenges for Ophthalmic Combination Products
Going forward, sponsors developing ophthalmic products formulated for delivery as eye drops must be prepared to pursue development programs that address the regulatory requirements for drug-device combination products. Partnering with a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) that has experience bringing such products to market is essential…..
What are Drug Delivery Systems?
Drug delivery systems are engineered technologies for the targeted delivery and/or controlled release of therapeutic agents. The practice of drug delivery has changed significantly in the past few decades and even greater changes are anticipated in the near future. Drug delivery includes but is not limited to oral delivery, gene/cell delivery, topical/transdermal delivery, inhalation deliver, parenteral delivery, respiratory delivery, capsules, particle design technology, buccal delivery, etc.
The Evolution of Drug Delivery Systems
Drug delivery systems have greatly evolved over the past 6 decades. In the past 12 years specifically, there have been huge advancements in drug delivery technology. For instance, advanced medication delivery systems, such as transdermal patches, are able to deliver a drug more selectively to a specific site, which frequently leads to easier, more accurate, and less dosing overall. Devices such as these can also lead to a drug absorption that is more consistent with the site and mechanism of action. There are other drug delivery systems used in both medical and homecare settings that were developed because of various patient needs and researchers continue to develop new methods.
Drug Delivery System Market Size
The pharmaceutical drug delivery market size is studied on the basis of route of administration, application, and region to provide a detailed assessment of the market. On the basis of route of administration, it is segmented into oral delivery, pulmonary delivery, injectable delivery, nasal delivery, ocular delivery, topical delivery, and others.
The estimated global market size of drug delivery products was $1.4 trillion in 2020. Unfortunately, 40% of marketed drugs and 90% of pipeline drugs (mostly small molecules) are poorly soluble in water, which makes parenteral, topical, and oral delivery difficult or impossible. In relation, poor solubility often leads to low drug efficacy. Add in the fact that many other hurdles exist in the form of drug loading, stability, controlled release, toxicity, and absorption – it’s not hard to understand the difficulties in bringing new drug products to market. Additionally, biopharmaceuticals (proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, etc) and combination drug products possess many of these same problematic obstacles that affect efficacy. These challenges, coupled with the complexity and diversity of new pharmaceuticals, have fueled the development of a novel drug delivery platforms that overcome a great many bioavailability and delivery obstacles. By leveraging these platforms, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies can improve dosing accuracy, efficacy, and reproducibility in their drug discovery and drug delivery research.
Drug Delivery System Demand
The demand for pharmaceutical products worldwide is only going to increase in the coming years, as old and emerging diseases continue to threaten the well-being of people globally. Drug discovery efforts are expected to intensify, generating a large variety of active compounds with vastly different structures and properties. However, it is well known that despite tremendous output of the drug discovery process, the success rate of a candidate compound becoming an approved drug product is extremely low. The majority of candidate compounds are discarded due to various hurdles in formulation and preclinical testing (such as issues with solubility, stability, manufacturing, storage, and bioavailability) before even entering into clinical studies. Therefore, advances in formulation and drug delivery, especially the development of new and versatile biomaterial platforms as effective excipients, may salvage many “difficult,” otherwise triaged, drug compounds, and significantly enhance their chance of becoming viable products. Furthermore, breakthroughs in biomaterial platform technologies will also facilitate life cycle management of existing APIs through reformulation, repurposing of existing APIs for new indications, and development of combination products consisting of multiple APIs.