In the decade since the international spotlight focused on nanotechnology, with some predicting a trillion dollar nanotech-enabled market by 2020, it has become increasingly clear from which areas of science and industry that market will materialise. Cientifica's Global Funding of Nanotechnologies 2011 tracked the growth of government funding to a total of $67.5 billion from 2000 to 2011.
Cientifica's latest report, Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery: Global Markets, indicates nanotech-enabled drug delivery therapeutics is set to grow from a current value of $2.3 billion to $136 billion by the year 2021. This sector will therefore represent approximately 15% of the global nanotechnology market in 2021. Healthcare offers the greatest opportunity to add value to nanomaterials and China is the fastest-growing market sector, according to Cientifica.
"It's a win-win situation for the nanotechnology and pharmaceutical industries," said Tim Harper, CEO of Cientifica. "Drug delivery offers higher margins than other uses of nanomaterials, and allows manufacturers to access more of the value chain than if they were supplying materials for paint or sunscreen. At the same time, reformulation of drugs can enable the pharma industry to extend patents and hang on to existing revenue streams."
Cientifica's research indicates that global growth in the drug delivery market will be led by Asia with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.5% between now and 2021. China will be the largest market for nanotechnology based drug delivery systems by 2021, worth more than $18 billion and representing 43% of the Asian market.
France is forecast to surpass Japan as a drug delivery market within 10 years. Among European Union countries, the highest growth will be found in the former Eastern Bloc, and the lowest in the UK.
"While early ideas about the impact of nanotechnology on healthcare focussed on fanciful ideas involving small submarines and cancer-zapping robots, current advances have been enabled by advances in imaging, control over materials and an increased understanding of how biology works at the nanoscale," said Harper.
Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery: Global Markets is now available. A white paper summarising the report's key findings, "Market Opportunities In Nanotechnology Drug Delivery" can be downloaded here.